Felony charges were filed today against a 26-year-old man suspected of burglarizing a residence and leaving the scene, prompting a search from sheriff’s deputies near an elementary school. Mizahel Morales of Palm Desert was charged with one felony count each of burglary, assault with a gun, prevent/dissuade a witness/victim and vandalism, according to court records.
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Two young Las Vegas men suspected in a murder near Mission Springs Park in Desert Hot Springs in December have pleaded not guilty to felony charges and are set to make their next court appearance next week. Emanuel Castaneda, 18, and Carlos Hernandez, 19, were arrested in Las Vegas Jan. 16, when they were initially
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A probationer and two men accused of supplying a deadly dose of fentanyl to a 35-year-old Riverside man are slated to be arraigned next month. Jaclyn Christine Sherman and Miguel Garcia, both 30 and of Riverside, along with 46-year-old David Ray Mullins of Jurupa Valley, are charged with second-degree murder for the death last year
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The prosecution was expected to rest this week in the trial of a 38-year-old convicted felon accused of killing his helper at an illegal marijuana grow in Anza after the man accidentally caused a vehicle to roll onto a puppy, fatally injuring the animal. Â Â Benjamin Franklin Winkle allegedly killed 37-year-old Michael M. Mendoza in
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A suspect in custody after a burglary call turned into a standoff that led to a brief lockout in Palm Desert Wednesday afternoon. The incident started at around 1:41 p.m. when deputies were dispatched to the 43000 of Elkhorn Trail regarding a burglary in progress investigation. The suspect ended up barricaded inside a home in
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Roads around 4th Street in Desert Hot Springs were shut down as police negotiated with a suspect barricaded inside a home. The standoff started as a call of multiple people fighting in the street just before 6:00 p.m. on 4th Street just off of Palm Drive, city spokesperson Doria Wilms told News Channel 3 at
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A former Texas lawman pleaded guilty today to fatally hitting a man stranded on the shoulder of Interstate 215 and fleeing the scene, and he was immediately sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison.  Giovanni Ceja, 31, admitted the second-degree murder charge under plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In
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A 23-year-old woman pleaded guilty today to her involvement in an armed robbery at a Palm Desert jewelry store more than one year ago and was immediately sentenced to 60 days in county jail and two years of formal probation. Â Â Tracy resident Karina Monique Ortega pleaded guilty Tuesday at the Larson Justice Center in
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Nine Southern California residents — including three from Riverside County — have been charged in federal indictments targeting an alleged drug pipeline in which suspected members of an organized crime ring imported hundreds of pounds of cocaine and other narcotics from Mexico through Los Angeles for export to Canada or distribution throughout the United States,
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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) — Five men have been arrested in the investigation surrounding six bodies found last week at a remote dirt crossroads west of Victorville. The dispute was over marijuana, sheriff’s officials said Monday. Authorities discovered the bodies in the Mojave Desert outside El Mirage after someone called 911 and said he had been shot,
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A La Quinta man who broke into a home and attacked people inside with a rock which he then threw at two sheriff’s deputies, prompting a shooting that left him injured, was sentenced today to 12 years and four months in state prison. Christopher Curci, 28, was convicted Dec. 15 of three felony counts of
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South Palm Canyon Drive between Camino Parocela and Sunny Dune was reopened to traffic Monday morning at 5:00 a.m. after being closed Sunday night due to a fatal traffic collision. KESQ News Channel 3 has learned a pedestrian was killed after being hit by a car shortly before 7:00 p.m. Sunday. Investigators said the driver,
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A suspected DUI driver led police on a pursuit that started in Coachella before crashing in Thermal Friday evening. The incident started at around 7:20 p.m. when Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies located a possible DUI driver in the area of Avenue 52 and Cesar Chavez Street. A spokesperson for the agency said deputies attempted a
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A Banning jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision today on murder and other charges in the trial of a probationer accused of fatally shooting a Coachella Valley man, prompting a judge to declare a mistrial.  Jurors in the trial of Hector Ramiro Yamanaka Ruiz, 45, had been deliberating since Wednesday morning, but informed
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A man pled guilty today to a hit-and-run that caused the death of a 39-year-old man in Palm Springs and was sentenced to 90 days of county jail and two years of formal probation. Chad Steinmetz, 42, pleaded guilty Friday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to one felony count of hit-and-run causing death
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The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office released bodycam video of a deputy-involved shooting that occurred on Dec. 10 in Palm Desert. The suspect, identified as Kelly Lynette Cronn, 53, of Palm Desert, suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the shooting. Deputies were initially called to the 49000 block of State Highway 74 at 2:45 a.m. Sunday to respond
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The Desert Hot Springs Police Department today advised residents about unknown people posing as police or fire officials seeking donations. People in uniform, posing as police and fire department officials, were believed to have been soliciting donations door-to-door in residential neighborhoods, according to police. “This community advisory is to notify the residents of Desert Hot
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A wanted felon was hospitalized with major injuries, and a police investigation was underway early Thursday morning following an overnight officer-involved shooting in Beaumont. It started as a police pursuit in Hemet shortly after 7:00 p.m. Wednesday as officers with the City of Hemet and California Highway Patrol officers tried to stop a wanted felon as
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A 26-year-old San Jacinto man who supplied a fatal dose of fentanyl to an acquaintance pleaded guilty today to voluntary manslaughter. Samuel Leo Mussaw admitted the felony count, as well as a charge of possession of controlled substances for sale, under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In exchange for his
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A 24-year-old ambulance attendant from Riverside County who groped and solicited sex from a teenage girl being transported to a hospital pleaded guilty today to felony charges. Jason Dean Anderson of Wildomar admitted two counts of sexual battery on a restrained person for the purpose of arousal under a plea agreement with the Riverside County
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