A felon who murdered his mother-in-law and her teenage son in a Riverside-area revenge attack stemming from the woman’s aiding her daughter in fleeing the domestic abuser died in state prison today. Micky Ray Cage, 54, was found dead in his cell at Salinas Valley State Prison about 7:30 a.m., according to the California Department
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Potentially reopening one of the Southland’s most notorious murder cases, attorneys for Erik and Lyle Menendez filed court papers today contending that newly surfaced evidence warrants the overturning of the brothers’ convictions for killing their parents in 1989. Jose Menendez and his wife, Mary Louise, or “Kitty,” were gunned down by their sons in their
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A 25-year-old woman who drove under the influence and assaulted an officer in Palm Springs pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges today and was immediately sentenced to just under five years of probation. Melinda Leigh Haley of Desert Hot Springs pleaded guilty Wednesday to three misdemeanor counts of assault against an officer and one misdemeanor
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A person was robbed at gunpoint at the Flying J Travel Center in Thousand Palms Tuesday afternoon. Authorities said the victim was then forced to drive the suspects to Desert Hot Springs, where they stole more property. The incident was reported at 12:24 p.m. A spokesperson for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept. said deputies were
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A pair from Indio was among the numerous arrested in connection with a multi-year international investigation into the sale of fentanyl and opioids through the dark web. The Indio residents, identified as Holly Adams, 31, and Devlin Hosner, 33, was federally charged in May 2022 with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute
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Police and a bomb squad removed an explosive device from a Desert Hot Springs home where a man had been barricaded early Tuesday morning. Officers were called to the 12200 block of Ocotillo Road shortly after midnight for reports of shots fired, according to police. Nobody was injured, but officers surrounded the neighborhood. Police said they later
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A Sunline bus driver was hospitalized after being stabbed by a passenger after a dispute over smoking Sunday afternoon in Cathedral City, officials confirmed. The stabbing happened at around 4:30 p.m. at a bus stop on B Street and W Buddy Rogers Avenue, according to Bryan Valenzuela, Deputy Chief Safety Officer for the Sunline Transit
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The Indio Police Department released its statistics for the 2023 Stagecoach Country Music Festival. This year’s data revealed that arrests were down by 22% from the 2022 festival. There was a total of 98 arrests this weekend at the festival, the majority related to false identification and drug/alcohol/intoxication. Drug/Alcohol/Intoxication46False Identification49Possession of Drugs for Sales0Property Crimes1Other2
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A 40-year-old man suspected of sending sexually motivated messages to someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy in Palm Desert pleaded not guilty to felony charges today. Brandon Devon Bourgeois of Hemet was charged with one felony count each of contacting a minor with intent to commit a crime and possessing matter depicting a minor
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A jury was seated today in the trial of an unlicensed driver accused of killing a Tour de Palm Springs bicyclist and severely injuring another when he lost control of his car while high on drugs, speeding to get around the competitors in Indio Hills. Ronnie Ramon Huerta Jr., 26, of Desert Hot Springs, is
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Four Coachella teens were arrested for fleeing from pursuing deputies and being in possession of multiple firearms, authorities said today. The Thermal Sheriff’s Station Special Investigations Unit conducted a surveillance operation around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday in Coachella in response to recent criminal activity, according to Sgt. David Aldrich of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Aldrich
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A 40-year-old man was behind bars today for allegedly sending sexually motivated messages to someone he believed was a 14-year-old boy in Palm Desert. The Hemet man was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of contacting a minor to commit a felony and attempting oral copulation with a person under 16 years of age, according to
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A 22-year-old felon convicted in Riverside County was killed at Soledad State Prison in Salinas, state officials said today. Jaime Brugada was fatally assaulted sometime between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tuesday at the medium-security all-male facility, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The agency said in a statement that Brugada
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A 33-year-old man suspected of breaking into a woman’s apartment in Palm Springs to sexually assault her pleaded not guilty to six felony charges today. Fernando Javier Hernandez of Coachella was charged with one felony count each of assault with intent to commit rape, attempted rape by force or fear, assault on a person causing
Continue Reading Jury selection continued today in the trial of an unlicensed driver accused of killing a Tour de Palm Springs bicyclist and severely injuring another when he lost control of his car while high on drugs and speeding to get around the competitors in Indio Hills. Ronnie Ramon Huerta Jr., 26, of Desert Hot Springs is
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The second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival saw a decrease in arrests and a slight increase in citations compared with last year. According to statistics released by the Indio Police Department, this year saw a 9% increase in citations and a 39% decrease in arrests compared with the second weekend of
Continue Reading A suspect got away with nearly 60 pounds of meth provided during an undercover operation by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the agency confirmed on Thursday. The undercover operation happened Wednesday at around 4:00 p.m. The agency did not share where this took place. “…the Riverside County Sheriff’s narcotics investigators from the Special Investigation Bureau
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A 28-year-old Coachella Valley man who fatally stabbed his girlfriend during a frenzied attack, as well as burned down her house and killed her dog, was convicted today of first-degree murder and other charges, setting the stage for a sanity trial to determine if he was mentally incompetent at the time of the slaying.
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A 38-year-old Cathedral City man was arrested in connection with an investigation related to several commercial, residential, and Desert X vehicle burglaries. Deputies from the Palm Desert Burglary Suppression Unit began their investigation into the burglaries in January, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. During the investigation, deputies identified the Cathedral City resident as
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A 36-year-old man who fatally beat a 77-year-old woman living in the same Palm Desert apartment complex pleaded guilty to murder today. During a hearing Wednesday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Ryan Alkana additionally admitted to a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a weapon during a felony, according to court records. He’s set to
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