Editor’s note: We have corrected the term lockdown to lockout. Police said the school was on lockdown, however, school officials said the correct term is lockout as the incident happened outside of campus A 12-year-old and an adult were arrested after the child made a video of himself armed with guns to students at a
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An 18-year-old man alleged to have fired the gun that killed a 17-year-old boy in Sky Valley pleaded not guilty today to a murder charge. In addition to the murder charge, Aexis Yahir Duran of Cathedral City faces a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury, according to court records. He pleaded
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Palm View Elementary School in Coachella was placed on a brief lockdown Wednesday afternoon. According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, an employee saw a man jump the school’s fence while holding a knife. The employee called 911 and the school was placed on lockdown at 1:34 p.m. Authorities said the man left campus and
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A Palm Desert man who arranged over the internet to meet what he thought would be a 13-year-old girl for sex was sentenced to four years of state prison today. Marino Aaron Lopez, 31, faced six felony counts — two of oral copulation with a person 10 to 14 years old, and one each of
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A former Coachella Valley Unified School District teacher who repeatedly sexually assaulted a child was bound for state prison today to serve a sentence of 36 years to life behind bars. Luis Alfonso Martinez, 43, of La Quinta, was convicted last month of two counts each of lewd acts on a minor and oral copulation
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Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies detained two children after reports of someone armed with a firearm inside the VIP Urgent Care building in Palm Desert. The building is located at 72630 Fred Waring Drive. Viewers called the newsroom reporting a heavy police presence in the area shortly after 5:15 p.m. A spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Dept.
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Snap Inc., the Santa Monica-based company behind Snapchat, is under investigation by federal authorities probing the possible use of the social media platform in the sale of fentanyl-laced pills, it was reported today. According to the report by Bloomberg, FBI agents and U.S. Justice Department attorneys are focusing on fentanyl poisoning cases in which
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A 66-year-old man was arrested in Cathedral City on suspicion of possessing child sexual abuse material. The arrest happened Thursday on the 26000 block of Rio Oso Road. Viewers called the newsroom to report seeing the FBI and law enforcement at a home in the morning. A spokesperson for the FBI confirmed that agents were
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A Desert Hot Springs man accused of possessing and disseminating child sex-abuse material on the internet pleaded not guilty to a felony charge. Pedro Alfredo Elizalde was charged with one felony count of possessing images depicting a minor under 12 years old in a sexual act, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to
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Update 3/13/23 All charges were dropped against Ruben Rico Franco. Franco had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing at the Banning Justice Center on March 13. But before his case could be assigned to a courtroom, prosecutors informed Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark Singerton that they wished to drop the criminal complaint and have
Continue Reading Update 3/13/23 All charges were dropped against Ruben Rico Franco. Franco had been scheduled for a preliminary hearing at the Banning Justice Center on March 13. But before his case could be assigned to a courtroom, prosecutors informed Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mark Singerton that they wished to drop the criminal complaint and have
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A 19-year-old from Indio was behind bars today for his alleged involvement in posing as the seller of an Xbox gaming console and robbing someone at gunpoint. The teen was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of robbery, carrying a loaded firearm, conspiracy to commit a crime, possession of controlled substances with a firearm and possession
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A Cathedral City man was ordered today to stand trial for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old boy and showing the boy pornographic videos. David Hadley Pio, 63, was charged with four felony counts — two of committing a lewd act on a child under 14, and one each of committing three or more lewd acts on
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We’ve learned that an 88-year-old man charged in a crash that killed a 9-year-old girl walking home after being dropped off by a school bus near Desert Hot Springs has posted bail and has an arraignment date set. The DA’s office had issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the driver, Robert William Hanson.
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A 48-year-old soccer coach suspected of sexually assaulting a teen girl pleaded not guilty to two felony charges today. Rosario Navarro Gonzalez of Menifee was charged with two felony counts of a lewd act on a minor, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to the charges Thursday morning at the Larson
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A Palm Desert man who arranged over the internet to meet what he thought would be a 13-year-old girl for sex pleaded guilty today to a felony. Marino Aaron Lopez, 31, was originally charged with six felony counts — two of oral copulation with a person 10 to 14 years old, and one each of
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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — After a former state trooper from Virginia drove across the country, kidnapped a 15-year-old California girl, killed three members of her family, then shot himself, Virginia State Police and the sheriff’s office he had recently started working for said they found no warning signs during background checks before he was hired.
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A former Coachella Valley Unified School District teacher who repeatedly sexually assaulted a young girl was convicted today of multiple felony charges. A Riverside jury deliberated four days before finding 43-year-old Luis Alfonso Martinez of La Quinta guilty of two counts each of lewd acts on a minor and oral copulation of a child under
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A 9-year-old girl was killed exactly one year ago near Desert Hot Springs getting off her school bus and then hit by a car. Thursday, the Riverside County District Attorney’s office announced they would file charges against the 88-year-old driver police say is responsible. Robert William Hanson faces multiple charges, including vehicular manslaughter with gross
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An 88-year-old man has been charged in connection with a crash that killed a 9-year-old girl and injured three other kids walking home from a bus stop near Desert Hot Springs last year. Robert William Hanson faces multiple charges, including vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, reckless driving, vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, and driving without
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