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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The man accused of killing two people found in a casita in Coachella over the weekend has been charged with their murders. The Riverside County District Attorney’s office confirmed David Torres Cerda, 22, has been charged with two counts of murder, one count of possession of an assault weapon, and one count of stealing a
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Desert Hot Springs Police said they were investigating an early Thursday morning shooting that left three men injured. Officers were called to the 12800 block of W. Arroyo Drive at 12:45 a.m. They confirmed to KESQ News Channel 3 that the injuries suffered were considered non-life-threatening. There was no immediate word on the injured men’s
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A man is in police custody after a nearly 40-minute-long pursuit that left multiple patrol units damaged Wednesday morning in Indio. The incident started at approximately 11:55 a.m. when Indio police officers were called to the 83000 block of Calle Presidente to respond to a domestic family dispute. Ben Guitron of the Indio Police Department
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A Coachella man suspected of kidnapping, robbing, assaulting and extorting a man for money pleaded not guilty today to felony charges. Alexander Henry Edlund, 34, was charged Tuesday morning with five felony counts, one each of kidnap for ransom, robbery, criminal threats to cause death or great bodily harm, false imprisonment and assault with a
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A 46-year-old Palm Springs man is facing 31 years to life in state prison today for the sexual abuse of a Coachella Valley girl. Jesus Lucio Rivera was charged with six felony counts — one each of lewd acts with a child under 14 and lewd acts with a child under 14 with force
Continue Reading Authorities have arrested a suspect in a double murder over the weekend in Coachella. Two bodies were discovered Sunday at around 8:45 a.m. at a home in the 85300 block of Avenue 52. Authorities said a man and a woman were found dead with significant trauma inside a casita attached to the main residence. The two
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Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin is criticizing judges’ decisions to dismiss criminal cases based on a lack of available trial courtrooms. According to the DA’s office, since Oct. 10, Superior Court judges have dismissed over 200 cases countywide. The dismissed cases range from misdemeanors to felonies with many types of crimes, however, officials added
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Two Coachella men suspected of kidnapping, robbing, assaulting and extorting a man for money were behind bars today.  Brian Emmanuel Jamand, 26, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to one felony count each of kidnapping for ransom, robbery and criminal threats to cause great bodily harm, according to court records. A second suspect, a 34-year-old man,
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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 will answer to murder charges, a judge ruled Friday. Kenny Shun Yu Wu, 34, of Palm Desert, pleaded not guilty in August to two counts of murder which include a
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A 42-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting a man in Desert Hot Springs pleaded not guilty today to murder. Oscar Ernesto Canas also pleaded not guilty at the Larson Justice Center in Indio on Thursday to one felony count of assault with a gun. Canas is suspected in a shooting that occurred around 7:40
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Authorities today seized several fentanyl pills hidden inside bags and boxes of candy that a suspect attempted to smuggle through TSA screening at LAX. Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Drug Enforcement Agency units at LAX seized the roughly 12,000 pills about 7:30 a.m., after the suspect went through TSA screening with the drugs concealed
Continue Reading A 42-year-old man was charged with murder today for allegedly shooting a man to death in Desert Hot Springs. Oscar Ernesto Canas was additionally charged with one felony count of assault with a gun, according to court records. He’s scheduled to be arraigned at the Larson Justice Center in Indio on Wednesday afternoon. Canas
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A man pleaded guilty today to assaulting an officer during a 2019 domestic violence call, prompting police to shoot him. Â Â Rigoberto Ramirez, 48, of Indio, pleaded guilty to three felony counts, one each of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, resisting or deterring an officer using a deadly weapon and willful
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