BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – A jury is set in the high-profile public corruption case against developer John Wessman, who’s accused of bribing former Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet in exchange for favorable treatment on city projects. Opening statements are set to start Monday at 9 a.m. at the Banning Justice Center. Wessman, 86, has pleaded
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COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif. (KESQ) – A Coachella man has been arrested for making a series of threats, including a hoax bomb call, at local stores this month. Carlos Alberto Contreras, 43, was arrested on Wednesday. The District Attorney’s office filed charges of Falsely Reporting of Bomb, Falsely Reporting an Emergency, Petty Theft with Prior Convictions,
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BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – A Banning man who sexually assaulted a developmentally disabled woman over a five-year span was sentenced today to eight years in state prison. Rene Leonel Robles Cerna, 39, pleaded guilty last month to sexual penetration by force under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for
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BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – Former Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet pleaded guilty in a bribery case stemming from an alleged scheme to buy off the mayor to ensure his support for a real estate developer’s projects. Hear from former Palm Springs Mayors Robert Moon and Geoff Kors, who dealt with the fallout of the bribery
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Update 5/14/25 The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office filed charges against foster parents and their adult daughter, accused of torturing six children. “It is alleged that the foster parents and their adult daughter subjected all six children (aged four – sixteen), to years of physical, emotional, and mental abuse,” reads a DA’s office news
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INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A second man has been convicted in the murder of a Cathedral City convenience store owner gunned down during a botched robbery. Joel Ortiz Hidalgo, 23, of Desert Hot Springs, was found guilty in the 2021 slaying of 61-year-old Chris Sgouromitis of Cathedral City. In addition to a murder charge, Ortiz
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MURRIETA, Calif. (KESQ) – Pretrial motions got underway today ahead of jury selection for the trial of a man accused of gunning down a 17-year-old Cathedral City boy in a car-to-car shooting. Juan Alfredo Landeros Garcia, 24, of Cathedral City is charged with first-degree murder, shooting at an occupied vehicle and sentence-enhancing gun and great
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PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Several arrests were made in the Coachella Valley over the weekend during DUI checkpoints conducted by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. In Coachella, deputies arrested two drivers for DUI and one person for alleged narcotics sales during a Friday night checkpoint on Cesar Chavez Street, according to the department. In
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PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – A suspect was arrested on Thursday in connection with the fatal three-car crash on March 27, 2024 at the intersection of North Indian Canyon Drive and 20th Avenue in Palm Springs. Following an investigation by the Palm Springs Police Department Traffic Division, a 66-year-old Desert Hot Springs man was identified
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UPDATE 05/09/2025: RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – A former Palm Desert High School football coach who ran over and killed a 64-year-old caregiver while driving under the influence was sentenced Friday to 15 years to life in state prison. Cameron Francis Curtis, 33, of Palm Desert fatally struck Nancy Valdes, also of Palm Desert, in 2023.
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INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A man who gunned down a Cathedral City convenience store owner during a botched robbery was convicted today of first-degree murder and other offenses. An Indio jury deliberated one day before finding Charles Lamar Campbell, 23, of Beaumont guilty in the 2021 slaying of 61-year-old Chris Sgouromitis of Cathedral City. Along
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INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A convicted felon who allegedly joined a woman in breaking into a Palm Desert business, stealing tens of thousands of dollars in merchandise, must stand trial for second-degree burglary, a judge ruled today. Michael James Graham, 55, of Lakewood was previously arrested in 2023 as part of a Riverside County
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INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A 51-year-old man who ignited nearly a dozen small brush fires in rapid succession around Cathedral City was bound for state prison today to serve a sentence of six years, eight months behind bars after pleading guilty to 10 counts of arson. Jose Hernandez of Cathedral City admitted the felony offenses
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PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – A Palm Desert man was taken into custody on Wednesday on suspicion of exposing himself while in his car, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. The Department reports that Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station deputies were called to the 77000 block of Country Club Drive in Palm Desert just after
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PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office released photos of suspects believed to be behind a series of anti-Semitic graffiti in Palm Desert. The first graffiti incident report happened last Wednesday just before 10 p.m. on the 73000 block of El Paseo. “The caller reported drawings of swastikas on a store window.
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INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – Jury deliberations began today in the trial of a man accused of gunning down a Cathedral City convenience store owner during a botched robbery, while testimony continued in the separate trial of his alleged co-conspirator. Charles Lamar Campbell of Beaumont and Joel Ortiz Hidalgo of Desert Hot Springs, both 23, allegedly
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YUCCA VALLEY, Calif. (KESQ) – A 30-year-old man remains hospitalized after a deputy-involved shooting started by a false report of murder Monday night in Yucca Valley. The incident started at around 11:10 p.m. in the area of Joshua Lane and Joshua Drive. Detectives said the suspect called police and said they shot and killed a
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BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – A Cabazon man was arrested on suspicion of sexually abusing a child, the Banning Police Department announced this week. Andrew Chavez, 32, was arrested on April 8 at the Las Encinas Mental Hospital in Del Mar, according to jail records. He has been charged with 8 counts of child sex abuse.
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THERMAL, Calif. (KESQ) – Two adults were transported to the hospital after being exposed to what was originally believed to be fentanyl, but later determined not to be, at Desert Mirage High School, authorities said. The incident was reported just after 1 p.m. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office was called to assist CAL FIRE, who
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BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – Pretrial motions got underway today ahead of jury selection for the trial of one-time Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet and a real estate developer, stemming from an alleged scheme to buy off the mayor to ensure his support for the businessman’s projects. Pougnet, 62, and John Elroy Wessman, 86, were criminally
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