Crime

Two women who took part in a smash-and-grab robbery, allegedly with four men, at a Palm Desert business last year have pleaded guilty to robbery and were each sentenced to two years in state prison.   Destiny Unique Baca, 18, of San Bernardino, and 24-year-old Los Angeles resident Analea Paradise Miller pleaded guilty Tuesday at the

A Riverside County man pleaded guilty to a nearly 20-year Ponzi scheme that scammed more than $24 million from at least 200 investors, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. Paul Horton Smith Sr., 59, of Moreno Valley, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal

A sanity trial got underway today for a 37-year-old man who, in the midst of his trial, pleaded guilty to fatally shooting his octogenarian grandparents inside a gated community in Palm Desert more than four years ago.   Frank Scott Castro III pleaded guilty Dec. 4, 2024, to two counts of murder, along with a special

Authorities are asking for the public’s help in identifying the driver in a deadly hit-and-run crash over the weekend in Twentynine Palms. The crash happened on Friday, Jan. 5 at approximately 8:41 p.m. on the 75000 block of Amboy Road. Deputies from the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Station responded to the area following a report of

A 24-year-old man suspected of shooting a 25-year-old man multiple times in a Coachella parking lot must stand trial on an attempted murder charge, a judge ruled today. Issac Vargas additionally faces sentence-enhancing allegations of committing a crime while on bail, causing great bodily injury, and discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury, according to

A 34-year-old man who slipped into an inebriated woman’s room at the Palm Springs hotel where he worked and sexually assaulted her as she lay unconscious had his sentencing date pushed from today to late January. A Banning jury in November deliberated less than a day before finding Alejandro “Alex” Adan of Desert Hot Springs

A 34-year-old man suspected of stabbing three of his family members, one fatally, following a dispute in Indio re-entered not guilty pleas today to felony charges. Anthony William Piña-German of Indio is charged with one felony count of murder and two felony counts of attempted murder, according to court records. He also faces sentence-enhancing allegations

A mother who allegedly bought a gun for her unlicensed bounty hunter son accused of fatally shooting a knife-wielding fugitive in front of Palm Springs police officers must stand trial on murder, a judge ruled today. Lisa Roberta Vargas, 55, and her son Fabian Hector Herrera, 38, were arrested in 2021 for the shooting death

On the one-year anniversary of his death, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office is honoring fallen Deputy Isaiah Cordero. Watch it in the player below. RSO Remembers Deputy Isaiah Cordero, EOW: December 29, 2022Isaiah Cordero began his service with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office as a Correctional Deputy on May 5, 2014, and was assigned to

A 21-year-old man suspected of driving drunk and triggering a three-vehicle crash in Cathedral City that killed another motorist pleaded not guilty today to felony charges. Angel Gabriel Torres Hernandez of Cathedral City was charged with one felony count of DUI gross vehicular manslaughter, two felony counts of driving under the influence of alcohol causing

A 27-year-old man suspected of sexually assaulting a woman in Rancho Mirage pleaded not guilty today to felony charges and authorities sought the public’s help regarding other possible victims of the defendant. Reginald Demond Macon Jr. of Indio was charged with one felony count each of rape by force or fear, oral copulation by use