Crime

A convicted felon who broke into a house that had been evacuated due to threats from a wildfire near Hemet pleaded guilty today to burglary and was immediately sentenced to two years probation. Michael Edward Serrano, 50, of Hemet admitted the felony count under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In

A 31-year-old man who allegedly led police on a lengthy foot pursuit that went through a grocery store roof and onto a hiking trail in Palm Springs was charged today with burglary and other counts. Julian Baez was charged along with Sandra Lee Pritchard, 21, with one felony count of burglary and one misdemeanor count

A man accused of killing four people in Palm Springs will return to court for the start of his retrial on Wednesday. Jose Larin-Garcia, 22, of Cathedral City was arrested for the murders of Carlos Campos, Jacob Montgomery, Yuliana Garcia and Juan Duarte Raya on February 3, 2019. When police arrived on scene, they found

Authorities today identified a 31-year-old man who was fatally shot in Coachella in early August. At about 4:50 a.m. on Aug. 7, deputies responded to the 84000 block of Fiesta Road to a report of a shooting, according to Sgt. Richard Carroll of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Carroll said an adult male with gunshot

A man and a woman accused of a residential burglary are behind bars after Palm Springs police searched the roof of a grocery store as well a nearby steep hillside. The incident began at around 11:30 a.m. on Monday. Police said a homeowner called 911 reporting a theft at their vacant rental property on the

A convicted sex offender who killed a previously convicted murderer in a downtown Riverside jail cell pleaded guilty today to first-degree murder and was immediately sentenced to 75 years to life in state prison.   Rodney Ronald Sanchez, 61, admitted the murder count, as well as four prior strikes during his arraignment at the Southwest Justice

Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies have surrounded a home in a Coachella neighborhood Monday afternoon. Deputies are in the area of Via Tepeyac and Calle Soledad, News Channel 3 crew at the scene heard deputies asking occupants to come out of a home before they release the K-9 unit. Shortly before 4:00 p.m., deputies brought a

A 33-year-old man was arrested in connection with a stabbing that left a person hospitalized earlier this month in Twentynine Palms. The stabbing happened shortly before 10 p.m. on Sept. 1 on the 6300 block of Ocotillo Avenue. The victim, a 37-year-old man from Twentynine Palms, was taken to the High Desert Medical Center by

A Thermal man who allegedly kidnapped, beat and attempted to strangle a 42-year-old woman in Mecca pleaded not guilty to felony charges today. Daniel Gamez Zaragoza, 39, was charged with four felony counts — one each of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, inflicting corporal injury and threatening to cause death or great bodily

A woman was arrested after Border Patrol agents found nearly $300,000 worth of meth, heroin, and colored fentanyl pills, in her vehicle at the Highway 86 checkpoint. The arrest happened earlier this week. The woman, a 42-year-old lawful permanent resident, approached the checkpoint driving a white 2014 Toyota Corolla. The vehicle was then moved to

Three people — including two convicted felons — accused of breaking into a house that was evacuated due to a wildfire near Hemet were charged today with felony burglary. John Jason Blackwood, 43, Deven Jessica Hooker, 31, and Michael Edward Serrano, 50 — all of Hemet — were arrested Saturday following a Riverside County Sheriff’s