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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The owner of I Heart Mac & Cheese in downtown Palm Springs has filed a vandalism report with police following an incident early Sunday morning. News Channel 3 obtained security camera footage from the restaurant which shows a man and a woman pushing drinking glasses off of a counter, which sent paper confetti and broken
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A Desert Hot Springs man who stabbed his sister in the face pleaded guilty to two felony charges today and was immediately sentenced to eight years in prison. Juan Angel Lopez, 41, pleaded guilty to one felony count each of aggravated mayhem and mayhem, according to court records. Â Â Lopez attacked his then-35-year-old sister Jessica
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By CLAIRE SAVAGE and MICHAEL TARM CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago prosecutor said Monday that she’s dropping sex-abuse charges against singer R. Kelly following federal convictions in two courts that should guarantee the disgraced R&B star will be locked up for decades. Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced the decision a day ahead of a hearing
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A 45-year-old man who was among seven people from Riverside County charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol was sentenced today to 18 months in federal prison. Andrew Alan Hernandez of Jurupa Valley in September pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting in the obstruction of an official proceeding.
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The Indio Police Department launched a “suspicious death” investigation after a man’s body was found under a bridge overnight. Police said officers responded to reports that a man was injured under the Indio Boulevard bridge, just west of Clinton Street, at around 2:05 a.m. When officers arrived at the scene, the man was dead with
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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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Local, state, and national leaders are reacting to the graphic video depicting the fatal beating of a 29-year-old Black man by five Memphis police officers. The video is filled with violent moments showing the officers, who are also Black, chasing and pummeling Nichols and leaving him on the pavement propped against a squad car as
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 A 46-year-old man accused of gunning down a motel guest during an altercation in Riverside must stand trial for murder and other offenses, a judge ruled today. Robert Donald Intong of Desert Hot Springs was arrested in 2021 following a Riverside Police Department investigation into the slaying of 31-year-old Cole William Birchard. At the end
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The hit-and-run motorist who allegedly was involved in a crash in South Los Angeles that left two brothers dead and their mother and sister injured was in custody today, police said. The crash occurred at about 8 a.m. on Jan. 9 at Main Street and 111th Place, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
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Update 01/26/23 The Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept confirmed that three teenagers were arrested. The incident started at around 3:00 p.m. when Gang Task Force Officers attempted to conduct a vehicle stop on an SUV occupied by four suspects near the 43000 block of Clinton Street in Indio. The vehicle failed to stop but then ended
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To combat the ongoing scourge of fentanyl and attempt to prevent a rising death rate connected to the synthetic drug, federal and local authorities today initiated a “Death in Disguise” drug awareness campaign in Riverside. @RivCoDA is Live! https://t.co/GxVaq2lFnB— Riverside County DA’s Office (@RivCoDA) January 26, 2023 “It’s the number one cause of death (in
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A woman was behind bars at the John Benoit Detention Center today on suspicion of mailing methamphetamine and fentanyl to an inmate at the same correctional facility. The woman, a 35-year-old from Indio, was booked on suspicion of possession of narcotics, willful harm to a child and smuggling controlled substances into jail, according to inmate
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A San Pedro man pleaded guilty today to his involvement in an armed robbery last year at a Palm Desert jewelry store and was immediately sentenced to eight years and four months of state prison. Rayjon Thorton, 26, pleaded guilty Wednesday afternoon to one felony count each of robbery and being a convicted felon and
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Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, is seeking to stiffen federal penalties for mail theft amid ongoing acts of thievery throughout the Inland Empire and elsewhere. “Americans continue to suffer from dramatic increases in mail theft here and around the country,” Calvert said on Tuesday. “It’s clear we must send a stronger message and have a more
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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. Â Â 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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By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ and JOCELYN GECKER HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A farmworker accused of killing seven people in back-to-back shootings at two Northern California mushroom farms was charged Wednesday with seven counts of murder and one of attempted murder. Chunli Zhao, 66, will make his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon. It was not immediately
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A Whitewater resident who allegedly threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend and pointed a gun at officers during a pursuit on Interstate 10 that blocked traffic for several hours pleaded not guilty to five felony charges. Jairo Santiago Chaides, 37, was charged with one felony count each of false imprisonment, criminal threats that result in great
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The Board of Supervisors directed the Executive Office to identify possible solutions to the cascade of court dismissals in Riverside County and request that California’s chief justice meet with local officials for a reality check on the impact resulting from the county’s deficit of judicial resources. “Our system of government does not work without a
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A 21-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after crashing into a restaurant in Twentynine Palms. The crash happened Monday at around 5:25 p.m. at The Rib Co. located at 72183 Twentynine Palms Highway. According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Dept., damages to the restaurant were estimated to be approximately
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