Crime

A convicted felon accused of stealing a vehicle with a toddler inside in Desert Hot Springs was ordered today to stand trial on kidnapping and other felony charges. Yadira Dolores Flores, 31, of Desert Hot Springs is charged with kidnapping, wilful child cruelty, vehicle theft, receiving a stolen vehicle and sentence-enhancing allegations of committing an

A 28-year-old probationer accused of ramming a Banning patrol car while fleeing in a stolen vehicle, then eluding law enforcement for a month, was charged today with assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon and other felonies. Jessie Edward Robey of Yucaipa was arrested and booked Tuesday into the Smith Correctional Facility in

A former Shadow Hills High School boys’ basketball coach pleaded not guilty today to charges of sexually assaulting a teenage girl. Ryan Leron Towner, 35, was arrested on June 10 stemming from a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation. The alleged conduct occurred between May and July 2018, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

An 86-year-old man convicted of killing one pedestrian and injuring another while driving drunk in Palm Springs was sentenced to 15 years to life in state prison today. On Sept. 1, an Indio jury convicted Palm Springs resident Leroy Silva of murder, DUI causing bodily injury, DUI causing bodily injury with a blood-alcohol level of

A 41-year-old felon was legally sane when he killed his father’s girlfriend in Thermal, jurors decided today. Raul Alcantar Sanchez Jr. was convicted last week of murder for killing 34-year-old Carolina Vargas in November 2012, and the trial immediately moved into the sanity phase at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Jurors reached their conclusion

A dog was killed after attacking a police officer during an arrest at a home in Beaumont Tuesday night. The incident started at approximately 7:01 p.m. on Sundance Drive. According to the Beaumont Police Department, officers were called to the area to respond to a male with a knife. Once officers arrived at the scene

A 41-year-old convicted felon knew what he was doing when he killed a woman in Thermal, a prosecutor argued today, but his attorney asserted he was mentally infirm and urged an Indio jury to find him insane at the time of the crime.     Raul Alcantar Sanchez Jr. was convicted last week of murder for

The Board of Supervisors today authorized Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin to accept a $430,000 state grant aimed at strengthening the DA’s anti-drugged driving program. In a 5-0 vote without comment, the board cleared Hestrin to add the California Office of Traffic Safety grant to his existing fiscal year budget, specifically for the “Drug-Impaired

A 39-year-old drunken driver who fatally struck a California Highway Patrol officer writing a ticket on the shoulder of Interstate 15 in Lake Elsinore was sentenced today to 15 years to life in state prison. Michael Joseph Callahan of Winchester was convicted in August of second-degree murder and a sentence-enhancing great bodily injury allegation for

31-year-old Luis Flores Cantor appeared briefly in court on Thursday morning. He was set to be arraigned again at the Larson Justice Center in Indio after being charged in the murders of two Palm Springs residents. The arraignment was delayed once again due to the high “volume of discovery” in the case, per a public

Jury deliberations began today in the trial of a man accused of stabbing his father’s girlfriend more than 100 times, with a prosecutor contending the killing was a son’s act of hatred toward the woman, while a defense attorney said the defendant had a history of mental illness and shouldn’t be convicted of murder. Raul