Crime

The Banning Police Department arrested a man accused of sexually assaulting a special needs adult. Police say they were first notified of the sexual assault on Feb. 6, 2020. Police were called to West Ramsey Street for a “past sexual assault report.” Officers were told that the suspect, a 35-year-old man, had been sexually assaulting

4/20 got off to an interesting start in Mecca Tuesday morning. Riverside County Sheriff’s Department announced the deputies located over 10,000 marijuana plants at an illegal cultivation site in the unincorporated community of Mecca. The marijuana was located following a search warrant served in the 70-100 block of Johnson Street in Mecca Tuesday at approximately

The Banning Police Department announced that a man wanted in connection with a sexual assault of a child has been arrested in the state of Georgia. The incident happened at approximately 3:30 p.m. on December, 15, 2020 at a residence in the city of Banning. Police say the suspect, a 23-year-old man from Rialto, California,

A Banning man wanted in connection with a deadly shooting outside a Banning liquor in 2018 was arrested in Mexico, the Riverside County District Attorney’s office announced on Thursday. Joseph Baca, 22, was arrested on Wednesday in Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico. Baca is accused of killing Alex Marcotte, 18, and injuring Dylan Artea, 19, in

A felon accused of killing a 65-year-old North Palm Springs woman to death with a machete days after being released from state prison re-entered a not guilty plea today. David Earl Williams Jr., 29, was ordered to return to the Larson Justice Center in Indio on May 17 for a trial-readiness conference. He remains held

A Beaumont woman was arrested Wednesday evening for allegedly running a brothel in Desert Hot Springs. The arrest stemmed from a sex trafficking investigation by the Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force. The RCAHT, with assistance from the Desert Hot Springs Police Department, served a search warrant at the 64-000 block of Mission Lakes Blvd

A Beaumont man was arrested Wednesday evening after leading police on a pursuit that ended in a crash while his young children were in the vehicle. The incident started at approximately 6:10 p.m. on Wednesday when Beaumont Police were notified of a possible child abduction at a business on the 1200 block of E. 6th

Palm Desert’s city hall was temporarily closed earlier this week due to a reported exposure to COVID-19, city officials announced on Wednesday. City officials said the closure is in accordance with Cal-OSHA workplace requirements. While there was no mention of what areas were affected, officials did say the affected areas of City Hall have been

Police have arrested a suspect believed to have been behind the June 2016 stabbing death of a man in Banning. Jerry Valdepena, 24, was arrested by Banning police detectives, with assistance from the Riverside County District Attorney’s Gang Impact Team, in Hemet on April 9. Valdepena is accused of killing of Jeremy Cooley, 26 in

A 37-year-old man was arrested after authorities said he stabbed a dog to death in Thousand Palms. There was no word on when the stabbing happened, but an officer with the Riverside County Department of Animal Services. was called to a property on Arbol Real Avenue on Monday at 10 a.m. after the dog was

The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report on a mass casualty crash in Imperial County last month. This report includes the first published account of the driver of a tractor-trailer involved in the crash. The crash happened on the morning of March 2. At approximately 6:14 a.m., a 1997 Ford Expedition SUV carrying

A man is dead after a deputy-involved shooting on Interstate 10 in Whitewater Friday morning. The investigation led to a shutdown that caused a massive traffic on the highway and heading into Palm Springs. The incident started at around 8:45 a.m. near Whitewater Canyon Road and Whitewater Cutoff. Authorities said a Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy

A onetime NCAA champion wrestler convicted of beating up one woman and sexually assaulting another at his Coachella Valley ranch was handed a two-year state prison sentence today. Wayne Eric Boyd, 74, of Sky Valley was convicted in August 2019 of criminal threats and assault with the intent to commit mayhem, rape, sodomy or oral

A La Quinta man accused of stabbing a Riverside County sheriff’s deputy in the leg during a scuffle in Palm Desert pleaded not guilty today to two counts of attempted murder on a peace officer and other felony charges. Christian Matthew Choi, 50, was arrested March 30 in the area of El Paseo and Lupine

Felony assault charges were filed today against two Central Valley men accused of shooting a senior with a BB gun while he was sitting at a bus stop in Palm Springs. Christian Vitto-McVay, 19, of Modesto and Larry Bradford Williams, 26, of Stockton are accused in the drive-by attack reported about 6:50 p.m. last Tuesday

The U.S. Border Patrol announced that two men who were arrested attempting to cross the U.S. border into Calexico were identified on a terrorism watch list. The arrests happened over the past couple of months. The first arrest happened on January 29. A 33-year-old man from Yemen was apprehended approximately three miles west of the