The search is on for a driver who struck a tow truck operator on the side of the freeway near Palm Desert early Monday morning. The crash happened at around 1:00 a.m. on the westbound side of Interstate 10, east of Cook Street. According to the California Highway Patrol, the preliminary investigation shows that a
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A Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault after being reported by a volunteer at the department. Alexander Vanny, 33, a deputy assigned to the Hemet station, was arrested Saturday. According to jail records, he faces the following charges: rape by force/fear, kidnap to commit rape, and forced oral copulation. Vanny
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A 51-year-old woman accused in a fatal hit-and-run crash in Desert Hot Springs must stand trial on murder and other charges, a judge ruled today. In addition to murder, Sheila Johnson of Desert Hot Springs was also ordered to stand trial on a misdemeanor count of being an unlicensed operator and a felony count of
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A judge ruled today that a 22-year-old man must stand trial for attempted murder after allegedly opening fire at a Coachella home. Caillou Marcus Renteria and a then-16-year-old juvenile were arrested on June 21, 2022 for their alleged involvement in a shooting three weeks prior in which multiple vehicles were struck. Renteria was charged
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A massage therapist pled guilty to sexual battery in Palm Springs, however, police are asking for the public’s help in identifying additional victims. Regaberto Castillas Lopez, also known as Manny Sierra, pled guilty to two counts of sexual battery by fraud and one count of failure to report an address change as a convicted sex
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A July 12 trial date was confirmed today for a 50-year-old felon accused of preying on two Moreno Valley schoolgirls and trying to kidnap one of them. Rene Rodriguez Ramirez of Indio is charged with attempted kidnapping and annoying minors in connection with alleged offenses that occurred in April. During a status hearing at
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A 59-year-old probationer who killed a Cabazon man in a rage over accusations — ultimately verified as lies — that the victim had sexually assaulted the defendant’s girlfriend was convicted today of first-degree murder. After deliberating only two days — with an intervening court holiday on Wednesday — a Riverside jury on Thursday found
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A 21-year-old Mountain Center resident accused in a shooting that injured a teenager in Palm Springs received a 10-year sentence after pleading guilty to lesser charges today. Jesse Alnarldo Simpson Jr. was sentenced Thursday by Judge Gregory Olson at the Larson Justice Center in Indio after pleading guilty to evading arrest and assault with a
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State prosecutors completed an investigation into a deputy-involved shooting in Hemet during which a probationer suspected of selling fentanyl was killed outside a motel, announcing today that there was no indication of criminal misconduct on the part of the deputy who fired the fatal shot. “Loss of life is always a tragedy,” state Attorney General
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Two 19-year-old men received two years’ probation after pleading guilty to multiple charges stemming from the armed carjacking of a 75-year-old woman in La Quinta, authorities said. Daryl Haxiel Urbano of Coachella and David Reyes III of Palm Desert were arrested on April 11, 2023, according to inmate records. Urbano and Reyes each entered guilty
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An Indio woman was convicted today of first-degree murder for her role in the killing of an 18-year-old crime witness. Maury Duarte, 32, was found guilty for the 2019 murder of Makayla Jean Massey, also known as Anita Garcia, of Victorville. Jurors found true special circumstance allegations of killing a witness to a crime
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One of two La Quinta residents accused of stealing property from multiple vehicles in the Indian Wells area pleaded not guilty today to various charges. Francisco Ferratt, 20, was charged with to three felony counts of burglary, two felony counts of vandalism and one felony count of obtaining personal identifying information for an unlawful purpose,
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Update 6/18/24 Maury Duarte was convicted of first-degree murder. Jurors also found true special circumstance allegations of killing a witness to a crime and lying in wait. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty for Duarte, but the special circumstance allegations open her to a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of
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A man convicted in the fentanyl overdose of a 16-year-old Cathedral City resident was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. The incident took place on December 9, 2022, when Cathedral City Police Officers and Cathedral City Fire Department responded to a fentanyl (drug) overdose involving a 16-year-old. The teen was transported to Desert Regional
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One person is in custody after a police pursuit that ended when a car crashed into a house in Coachella Friday morning. The incident started at around 11:15 a.m. when deputies were called to the area of Avenue 52 and Frederick regarding the report of a reckless driver. “Upon arrival, deputies attempted a traffic enforcement
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A felon who joined two others in burglarizing an illegal marijuana grow in Anza, where the 64-year-old proprietor was gunned down, was sentenced today to 21 years in state prison. James Max Robinson, 43, of San Bernardino pleaded guilty in April to voluntary manslaughter under an agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. In
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A 39-year-old woman who fatally shot her husband during a dispute at their Coachella home was convicted today of murder. An Indio jury deliberated less than a day before finding Cindy Gicela Parra Hernandez guilty of the 2022 slaying of Francisco Lopez. Along with murder, jurors convicted Hernandez of assault with a deadly
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On Wednesday, the Coachella Valley Violent Crime Gang Task Force (CVVCGTF) was called by the U.S. Border Patrol Blythe Station to confiscate 25 rifles and two handguns at the California-Arizona border. Border Patrol contacted the driver, Jose Palma Almendarez, a 25-year-old from Calexico, and his 17-year-old brother in a Honda HRV. The investigation uncovered a
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A 58-year-old man suspected of illegal sales of illicit drugs and firearms was taken into custody today in Desert Hot Springs. Coachella Valley Violent Crime Gang Task Force personnel, with the assistance of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Special Enforcement Bureau, executed a search warrant Thursday at a house in the 66300 block of Avenida
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The prosecution is slated to rest Monday in the trial of a 59-year-old probationer accused of killing a Cabazon man in a rage over accusations — later verified as lies — that the victim had sexually assaulted the defendant’s girlfriend. Richard Eugene Seevers of Cabazon is charged with first-degree murder in the 2021 slaying of 31-year-old
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