Riverside County prosecutors are scrambling to re-file complaints and submit motions challenging judges’ decisions to dismiss hundreds of criminal cases countywide, in what District Attorney Mike Hestrin said today is fast becoming a “public safety crisis.”  According to the District Attorney’s Office, judges have booted just over 500 felony and misdemeanor cases since the second
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The teens were arrested in connection with a shooting earlier this month in Coachella. The shooting happened on Nov. 2, 2022, at the intersection of Balboa Street and Westerfield Way around 4:20 PM. A search was done in the surrounding neighborhood and there was no word of any injuries during the shooting. Friday at around
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A man accused of stabbing his wife and another man in what authorities called a domestic violence confrontation at a Palm Desert hotel parking lot re-entered not guilty pleas to murder charges today. At the end of a preliminary hearing on Oct. 21, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Valerie Navarro found there was sufficient evidence
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A 39-year-old man accused of killing his roommate, a Cathedral City man who was found dead in his apartment, pleaded not guilty to murder today. Joseph Ortega was additionally charged with two felony counts of cruelty to an animal, according to court records. He pleaded not guilty to all charges at the Larson Justice
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Four men were arrested after authorities conducted a drug bust in a remote area off in North Palm Springs Thursday morning. The investigation happened on Diablo Road and 18th Avenue. A spokesperson for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept. said that based on the hazardous materials found at the location, which are used in the production
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The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said it has arrested and booked two 13-year-olds at Indio Juvenile Detention Center after a gun incident at Toro Canyon Middle School. The two were students at the middle school. During a press conference on Wednesday, deputies reported a student brought a gun on campus. Related Story: 2 students detained,
Continue Reading A teenager has been arrested in connection with a shooting last month in Coachella. The shooting happened back on Oct. 9, 2022 at a residence on the 85300 block of Cairo Street. There was no word on any injuries in the initial shooting. Thursday at around 7:00 AM, Coachella Community Action Team (CCAT), with the
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3,700 students and staff across three schools in Thermal were evacuated after a credible threat was issued to Toro Canyon Middle School Wednesday morning, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept confirmed. According to Sgt. Brandi Swan, spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Dept., authorities received a school violence threat at 10:10 a.m. They believed it to be a
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The man accused of murdering his roommate at a Cathedral City apartment complex is also believed to have killed two pets, police said on Wednesday. The suspect, a 39-year-old man, Tuesday at around 1 a.m. after his roommate was found dead in his bed at the Cathedral Town Villas Apartments on the 36700 block of
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Felony charges were filed today against two men suspected of shooting three men, one fatally, outside of the Raising Cane’s in Palm Springs over the weekend. Â Â Anastacio Jesus Machuca, 20, is charged with four felony counts, one of murder and three of attempted murder, according to court records. Antonio Marins, 21, was charged with
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An undercover agent continued his testimony Tuesday about what an accused quadruple murderer told him while he was posing as an inmate in jail. Jose Larin Garcia is accused of murdering four people in Palm Springs in 2019. His first trial ended with a deadlocked jury. The jury heard an hours-long recording of the operation as
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Charges were dismissed but quickly re-filed today against a man accused of trying to speed away from Cathedral City police during a traffic stop and dragging an officer a short distance in 2018. “The trial did not begin because it was set on its last day for trial and there were no courtrooms available. It
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Cathedral City Police were investigating a suspicious death as a murder Monday night and said they had taken a suspect into custody for the alleged crime. Officers were called to the Cathedral Town Villas Apartments at 10:24 p.m., according to a statement from the department. Firefighters were already on the scene for a medical aid
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The first appellate action to challenge a wave of dismissals by Riverside County Superior Court judges trying to slice through a backlog that accumulated during the COVID lockdowns is underway, the county’s top prosecutor announced today.  District Attorney Mike Hestrin said the agency wants the case of People v. Jose Luis Tapia returned to the
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A man was arrested after a fight in the middle of a street in downtown Palm Springs Monday morning that was captured on a surveillance camera. The fight was reported at around 10 a.m. on N Indian Canyon Drive and E Amado Road, according to Lt. Gustavo Araiza of the Palm Springs Police Department. Surveillance
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A 22-year-old man suspected in the murder of a man and woman in Coachella pleaded not guilty to felony charges Monday morning. Daniel Torres Cerda of Coachella, who was arrested in Redwood City, pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, including four felony counts, two of murder and one each of possession of an
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Court filings obtained by News Channel 3 reveal new information on what investigators say happened before and after two people were found dead in Coachella on Sunday. David Torres-Cerda, 22, is due in an Indio courtroom on Friday afternoon. He was apprehended in Colma, in the San Francisco Bay area over the weekend. He is
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A 34-year-old man suspected of striking multiple vehicles while leading officers on a vehicle pursuit from Indio to Thermal pleaded not guilty today to felony charges. John Anthony Aispuro Jr. of Indio was charged with single counts each of evading arrest, eluding a pursuing peace officer, assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer
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Two 20-year-old men accused of gunning down the owner of a Cathedral City convenience store during a robbery re-entered not guilty pleas to felony charges today. Charles Lamar Campbell of Beaumont and Joel Ortiz Hidalgo of Desert Hot Springs were charged with two felony counts, one each of murder and attempted robbery, according to court
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A 30-year-old man accused in a fatal shooting in Cathedral City re-entered a not guilty plea to a murder charge today. Â Â Along with a murder charge, Jose Ernesto Martinez of Desert Hot Springs faces a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury. He re-entered a not guilty plea to the charge
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