Crime

A 64-year-old woman who was fatally struck, allegedly by a Palm Desert High School teacher and football coach, was identified today. The Riverside County coroner’s office identified her as Nancy Valdes of Palm Desert. The crash was reported at 6:09 p.m. March 4 at Calliandra Street and Alamo Drive, according to the Riverside County Fire

A Coachella man accused of threatening to bomb the 2021 Desert X art exhibition had his case dismissed today after completing his misdemeanor diversion program. Phillip Matthew Carrillo, 33, was charged with one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting a bomb, according to court records.    “The court granted misdemeanor diversion back in September, over the

Jury selection began today for the trial of a 28-year-old Coachella Valley man accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend during a frenzied attack possibly stemming from drug use, dumping her remains in a Thermal cemetery, then setting her residence ablaze.   Christian Alejandro Pacheco is charged with murder, arson, assault with a deadly weapon, animal cruelty

A 65-year-old man accused in the fatal stabbing of a woman in Palm Springs must stand trial on the murder charge, a judge ruled today. In addition to the murder charge Miguel Hernandez Toscano was facing two felony counts of willful child cruelty and one misdemeanor court of willful cruelty to a child, according to

A 28-year-old man arrested in Cathedral City for allegedly shooting two Jewish men after they left synagogues in the Pico-Robertson district less than 24 hours apart pleaded not guilty today in Los Angeles to federal hate crime and firearms charges. Jaime Tran, previously of Riverside, will remain in federal custody with an April 11 trial

Three young men accused in a 2020 attack on a man in a Palm Springs mobile home park will be arraigned again later this month on a felony charge. Angel Valtierra, 24, Anthony Jose Lopez, 23, and Nathan Roldan Ramirez, 23, were originally charged with one felony count each of gang activity and of assault

Police arrested a man and a woman believed to be behind a series of residential burglaries in the Cathedral City cove area. The arrests came about after a recent increase burglaries in that area, police said. Cathedral City detectives executed a search warrant Wednesday at around 9:30 a.m. on the 68500 block of C Street,

A Palm Desert High School teacher and football coach was charged with murder today after he allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian while intoxicated over the weekend. Cameron Francis Curtis, 31, of Palm Desert additionally faces a sentence enhancing allegation of great bodily injury, according to court records.   He’s set to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon

A 24-year-old man has been charged for his alleged role in a high-speed crash that killed three people in Palm Desert during the holidays. Ricardo Adrian Meza was officially charged with three counts of murder on Tuesday, the Riverside County District Attorney’s office confirmed. He was scheduled to be arraigned on those charges Tuesday afternoon,

A 33-year-old Orange County man who hit an Indio police officer with his pickup and led law enforcement on a brief chase near the Coachella Music & Arts Festival was bound for state prison today to serve a four-year sentence. Michael Anthony Berber of Fountain Valley pleaded guilty in January to assault with a deadly

A Desert Sands Unified School District employee and high school football coach remains behind bars after being suspected of driving under the influence and causing a deadly crash over the weekend. Cameron Curtis, 31, was arrested at a little after 6:00 p.m. on Saturday following a crash on Calliandra Street, east of Alamo Drive. The