Crime

A Cathedral City man facing a possible death sentence for allegedly shooting and killing four people in Palm Springs last year made a brief appearance in court today before a judge assigned his case to a new courtroom where the trial is to be held. Jose Larin-Garcia, 20, faces four murder counts stemming from the

Prosecutors today charged a school bus driver for the Coachella Valley Unified School District with molesting three girls who were under 14 years old while on the job a decade ago. Jose Luis Moncada, 64, of Desert Hot Springs, was charged with eight counts of committing lewd acts with a child under 14 years old,

A mistrial was declared today when a Banning jury deadlocked in the murder trial of a 27-year-old felon accused of shooting his ex-girlfriend in the chest in Desert Hot Springs nearly five years ago. Following almost five days of deliberations, the jury hung 8-4 in favor of conviction, according to John Hall, spokesman for the

A Twentynine Palms man accused of molesting multiple children over a nearly 10-year span died after suffering a medical emergency in jail. Gary Lynn Shannon, 72, was pronounced dead Sunday evening at Kaiser Hospital. According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department – Morongo Basin Station, Shannon returned to to the West Valley Detention Center

A previously convicted felon was sentenced to 18 years in state prison for shooting a man with a semi-automatic firearm in Desert Hot Springs in 2018, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office confirmed today. Carlos Anthony Beltran, 39, of Desert Hot Springs, was sentenced Friday, immediately after pleading guilty to an attempted murder charge, according

A Mexican citizen who claimed he was in debt to a Mexican drug cartel pleaded guilty to the 2014 murder of a Cathedral City resident during a Craiglist car purchase and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Monday. Gabriel Gaytan Cardenas, 34, was

Actor Nicholas Brendon struck a plea deal with prosecutors today, staving off a possible four-year jail sentence for the former “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” actor who attacked his girlfriend at a Palm Springs hotel nearly three years ago. As part the deal, Brendon will serve three years probation and complete a 52-week domestic violence course,

A previously convicted felon received a four-year sentence today after pleading guilty to being the getaway driver in a string of Coachella Valley armed robberies, one of which resulted in a high-speed police chase. Guillermina Delara, 48, was arrested after leading police on a nearly 20-minute chase from the scene of an alleged robbery around

A Coachella Valley Unified School District bus driver is behind bars after being accused of inappropriately touching several students. Jose Luis Moncada, 64, of Desert Hot Springs was located at his place of employment and arrested on the 87000 block of Avenue 57 in Thermal on Friday morning. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department revealed that

A 22-year-old reputed gang member was behind bars today, accused of shooting up a home with adults and children on the property in Desert Hot Springs. Randy Sanudo of Cathedral City was arrested Thursday along with Victor Rodriguez, 23, of Phoenix, who was arrested Monday stemming from the Jan. 18 shooting in the 72000 block

A probationer was arrested on Wednesday afternoon in Coachella. According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, deputies were called to a suspicious circumstance in the area of 7th Street and Tripoli Way at approximately 1:55 p.m. Deputies arrived at the scene and made contact with four subjects, including 29-year-old Cruz Cruz, a Coachella resident. Not

The trial of a 20-year-old man accused of gunning down four people has been delayed as it becomes a capital punishment case. On the night of February 3, 2019, Jacob Montgomery, 19, Juan Duarte Raya, 18, and Yuliana Garcia, 17, were found dead inside a Toyota Corolla that crashed into a parked Jeep near the

The man wanted in connection with a triple homicide in Perris earlier this month has been arrested, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department announced. Jose Luis Torres Garcia, a 33-year-old Mexican national, was suspected of killing three men execution-style on Feb. 17. The victims were found shortly after daybreak at Perris Valley Cemetery, their bodies had been

The Riverside County District Attorney ruled that there was no criminal culpability in a deputy-involved shooting that left an ax-wielding man dead. The DIS happened on the morning of June 3, 2018. Deputies were called to assist officers with the California Highway Patrol and crews from CAL FIRE/Riverside County with a non-compliant person armed with an

A documented gang member was arrested today for allegedly assaulting his uncle and grandmother with a knife after breaking into their Coachella home, leaving one of them injured. Deputies responded about 9 a.m. to a family disturbance call at a home in the 52200 block of Calle Empalme, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

In an instant, the Riverside County Fair and Date Festival turned hostile. Video shared exclusively with News Channel 3 shows punches flying and a man being thrown into a metal fence. “People were getting knocked to the ground and kicked in the face and people were getting pretty hurt,” said the man who captured the

A convicted felon who gunned down a 21-year-old Beaumont woman during a botched kidnapping was sentenced today to life in state prison without the possibility of parole. A Banning jury in December deliberated less than a day before finding 34-year-old Samuel Jesus Acosta guilty of the 2017 slaying of Jasmine Zuniga. Jurors convicted Acosta of

A 25-year-old man who broke into a Desert Hot Springs home and raped a woman, then fled to Alaska, was sentenced today to 10 years in state prison. Gary Lane Franklin II remained on the lam for nearly two months after the Aug. 14, 2018, attack. He was arrested in Anchorage on Oct. 6 of