SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KESQ) – The general manager and three employees of an El Cajon-area business that was raided by federal agents this week were facing immigration-related charges today. The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings’ general manager employed undocumented workers and let them live in the company’s warehouse. The general
Continue Reading
SANTA ANA, Calif. (KESQ) – Former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu was sentenced today to two months behind bars and was ordered to pay a $55,000 fine for his guilty plea to obstruction of justice, wire fraud and lying to federal investigators about his role in the city’s effort to sell Angel Stadium. Sidhu, 67, was
Continue Reading
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KESQ) – A former Navy detective and El Cajon police officer sentenced earlier this year for using excessive force on a detained sailor at Naval Base San Diego is now facing a new charge of attempting to produce child sex abuse material. Jonathan Christopher Laroche, 41, of Spring Valley, is accused in
Continue Reading
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (KESQ) – The opening round of the Galleri Classic on the 50-and-over PGA Tour Champions circuit is underway at Mission Hills Country Club. Several past major champions are among the players traveling to the desert Friday, including Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, José María Olazábal, Yang Yong-eun, Justin Leonard, Fred Couples and Stewart
Continue Reading
Update – 3/28/25 McKernan’s case has been moved to the Banning Justice Center. The case is set to continue on Tuesday. Original Report – 3/27/25 RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – Trial proceedings were suspended on Thursday for an 82-year-old man accused of fatally bludgeoning a senior who had invited him to stay at her and her
Continue Reading
THOUSAND PALMS, Calif. (KESQ) – Environmental groups filed a lawsuit against Riverside County today over the county’s approval of a 1.2 million-square-foot warehouse that activists say would increase air pollution and interfere with local habitats. Green-lit in Feburary, the proposed Majestic Thousand Palms warehouse project has the potential to attract more than 500 diesel
Continue Reading
MURRIETA, Calif. (KESQ) – A week from today, a Lake Elsinore Unified School District employee accused of molesting a child and possessing child pornography will ask a judge to consider reducing his $500,000 bail so he can get out of jail. David Robledo Jr., 36, of Homeland was arrested last week following an investigation by
Continue Reading
LOS ANGELES (KESQ) – The Dodgers will play their home opener today against the Detroit Tigers with what the team is billing as “a Hollywood show for the ages, including appearances and performances from top-tiered special guests.” Josh Groban will be the Opening Day national anthem singer for the second consecutive year, accompanied by a
Continue Reading
RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (KESQ) – Two women accused of targeting a Ranch Mirage man in a six-figure immigration-driven extortion scam both pleaded not guilty today to felony charges. Bertha Verduzco Gasso, 67, and Ilvia Yvette Lopez, 43, both of Hemet, were arrested Tuesday following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation that began earlier this month.
Continue Reading
INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A 54-year-old man who drove drunk and caused a multi-vehicle crash that killed three people in Palm Springs is slated to be sentenced to state prison next month. Shawn Michael Kirkpatrick on Tuesday admitted three counts of DUI gross vehicular manslaughter, as well as DUI resulting in great bodily injury and
Continue Reading
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – An ex-con suspected of fatally stabbing her wife, a veteran Riverside County Fire Department captain, at their home and then fleeing to Mexico — where she was apprehended over the weekend — pleaded not guilty to a murder charge on Wednesday. Yolanda Marodi, 53, is accused of killing her spouse of
Continue Reading
LA QUINTA, Calif. (KESQ) – A 44-year-old vehicle theft suspect arrested in Indio remained in custody today. Deputies were notified of an allegedly stolen vehicle at 7:35 a.m. Tuesday in the 81500 block of Rancho Santana Drive in La Quinta, according to a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department statement. Officials were led to believe that a
Continue Reading
LOS ANGELES (KESQ) – Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced today his office will seek the death penalty only in exceedingly rare cases, rescinding a directive by his predecessor that barred prosecutors from seeking capital punishment against defendants charged with special circumstance murders. “I remain unwaveringly committed to the comprehensive and thorough evaluation
Continue Reading
INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A portion of Avenue 50 in Indio was shut down today for six weeks. The closure started at 6 a.m. Monday between Madison Street and Monroe Street and is expected to last through May 4. Although officials did not officially give a reason, a similar the same (or similar)
Continue Reading
DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Authorities arrested three people on suspicion of driving under the influence at a DUI checkpoint, the Desert Hot Springs Police Department announced today. The checkpoint was held from 6 p.m. Friday until 2 a.m. Saturday at a location with notable data patterns of impaired driving-related crashes in the city,
Continue Reading
DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – The Riverside County Fire Department contained a fire to a garage at a single-story residence in Desert Hot Springs today. Firefighters received a report of smoke coming from a one-family dwelling in the 66000 block of Cahuilla Avenue shortly before 5:50 a.m. Monday, according to an RCFD statement. Red
Continue Reading
INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A 25-year-old woman who lured a man to a Cathedral City Park, where he was fatally assaulted over her bogus accusations that he’d raped her, was sentenced today to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Rena Lizette Alaniz of Thousand Palms was convicted in December of first-degree murder
Continue Reading
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – Multiple people were arrested today after being named in a federal indictment alleging conspiracy in a ring that involved smuggling controlled substances, including fentanyl, into the Riverside County correctional system. A total of 10 individuals were named in the indictment, which alleged the defendants engaged in smuggling substances into the correctional
Continue Reading
LOS ANGELES (KESQ) – Federal prosecutors in Los Angeles, working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other law enforcement partners, have filed charges against 17 defendants who illegally re-entered the United States after being removed, officials said today. Many of the defendants charged were previously convicted of felony offenses before they were removed from
Continue Reading
INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A 34-year-old convicted felon accused of killing a holocaust survivor and a woman in separate burglaries must stand trial on two counts of first-degree murder and other charges, a judge ruled today. Luis Flores Cantor of Palm Springs allegedly took the lives of 80-year-old Joseph Rajczi and 59-year-old Jennifer Dillon
Continue Reading