3,700 students and staff across three schools in Thermal were evacuated after a credible threat was issued to Toro Canyon Middle School Wednesday morning, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept confirmed. According to Sgt. Brandi Swan, spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Dept., authorities received a school violence threat at 10:10 a.m. They believed it to be a
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The man accused of murdering his roommate at a Cathedral City apartment complex is also believed to have killed two pets, police said on Wednesday. The suspect, a 39-year-old man, Tuesday at around 1 a.m. after his roommate was found dead in his bed at the Cathedral Town Villas Apartments on the 36700 block of
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Felony charges were filed today against two men suspected of shooting three men, one fatally, outside of the Raising Cane’s in Palm Springs over the weekend. Anastacio Jesus Machuca, 20, is charged with four felony counts, one of murder and three of attempted murder, according to court records. Antonio Marins, 21, was charged with
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An undercover agent continued his testimony Tuesday about what an accused quadruple murderer told him while he was posing as an inmate in jail. Jose Larin Garcia is accused of murdering four people in Palm Springs in 2019. His first trial ended with a deadlocked jury. The jury heard an hours-long recording of the operation as
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Charges were dismissed but quickly re-filed today against a man accused of trying to speed away from Cathedral City police during a traffic stop and dragging an officer a short distance in 2018. “The trial did not begin because it was set on its last day for trial and there were no courtrooms available. It
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Cathedral City Police were investigating a suspicious death as a murder Monday night and said they had taken a suspect into custody for the alleged crime. Officers were called to the Cathedral Town Villas Apartments at 10:24 p.m., according to a statement from the department. Firefighters were already on the scene for a medical aid
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The first appellate action to challenge a wave of dismissals by Riverside County Superior Court judges trying to slice through a backlog that accumulated during the COVID lockdowns is underway, the county’s top prosecutor announced today. District Attorney Mike Hestrin said the agency wants the case of People v. Jose Luis Tapia returned to the
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A man was arrested after a fight in the middle of a street in downtown Palm Springs Monday morning that was captured on a surveillance camera. The fight was reported at around 10 a.m. on N Indian Canyon Drive and E Amado Road, according to Lt. Gustavo Araiza of the Palm Springs Police Department. Surveillance
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A 22-year-old man suspected in the murder of a man and woman in Coachella pleaded not guilty to felony charges Monday morning. Daniel Torres Cerda of Coachella, who was arrested in Redwood City, pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, including four felony counts, two of murder and one each of possession of an
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Court filings obtained by News Channel 3 reveal new information on what investigators say happened before and after two people were found dead in Coachella on Sunday. David Torres-Cerda, 22, is due in an Indio courtroom on Friday afternoon. He was apprehended in Colma, in the San Francisco Bay area over the weekend. He is
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A 34-year-old man suspected of striking multiple vehicles while leading officers on a vehicle pursuit from Indio to Thermal pleaded not guilty today to felony charges. John Anthony Aispuro Jr. of Indio was charged with single counts each of evading arrest, eluding a pursuing peace officer, assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer
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Two 20-year-old men accused of gunning down the owner of a Cathedral City convenience store during a robbery re-entered not guilty pleas to felony charges today. Charles Lamar Campbell of Beaumont and Joel Ortiz Hidalgo of Desert Hot Springs were charged with two felony counts, one each of murder and attempted robbery, according to court
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A 30-year-old man accused in a fatal shooting in Cathedral City re-entered a not guilty plea to a murder charge today. Along with a murder charge, Jose Ernesto Martinez of Desert Hot Springs faces a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury. He re-entered a not guilty plea to the charge
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The man accused of killing two people found in a casita in Coachella over the weekend has been charged with their murders. The Riverside County District Attorney’s office confirmed David Torres Cerda, 22, has been charged with two counts of murder, one count of possession of an assault weapon, and one count of stealing a
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Desert Hot Springs Police said they were investigating an early Thursday morning shooting that left three men injured. Officers were called to the 12800 block of W. Arroyo Drive at 12:45 a.m. They confirmed to KESQ News Channel 3 that the injuries suffered were considered non-life-threatening. There was no immediate word on the injured men’s
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A man is in police custody after a nearly 40-minute-long pursuit that left multiple patrol units damaged Wednesday morning in Indio. The incident started at approximately 11:55 a.m. when Indio police officers were called to the 83000 block of Calle Presidente to respond to a domestic family dispute. Ben Guitron of the Indio Police Department
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A Coachella man suspected of kidnapping, robbing, assaulting and extorting a man for money pleaded not guilty today to felony charges. Alexander Henry Edlund, 34, was charged Tuesday morning with five felony counts, one each of kidnap for ransom, robbery, criminal threats to cause death or great bodily harm, false imprisonment and assault with a
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A 46-year-old Palm Springs man is facing 31 years to life in state prison today for the sexual abuse of a Coachella Valley girl. Jesus Lucio Rivera was charged with six felony counts — one each of lewd acts with a child under 14 and lewd acts with a child under 14 with force
Continue Reading Authorities have arrested a suspect in a double murder over the weekend in Coachella. Two bodies were discovered Sunday at around 8:45 a.m. at a home in the 85300 block of Avenue 52. Authorities said a man and a woman were found dead with significant trauma inside a casita attached to the main residence. The two
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Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin is criticizing judges’ decisions to dismiss criminal cases based on a lack of available trial courtrooms. According to the DA’s office, since Oct. 10, Superior Court judges have dismissed over 200 cases countywide. The dismissed cases range from misdemeanors to felonies with many types of crimes, however, officials added
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