A U.S. Navy sailor from Monterey Park pleaded guilty today to federal charges and admitted taking bribes in exchange for sending sensitive military information to a Chinese intelligence officer. Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, also known as Thomas Zhao, entered his plea to one count of conspiring with the intelligence officer and one count of
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A 28-year-old man suspected in a fatal hit-and-run collision last year in Palm Springs pleaded not guilty today to one felony count of hit-and-run resulting in death. Cody Jay Hamilton was charged with the felony count on July 25 and pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, according to court
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A former Cathedral City policeman accused of swiping fentanyl and ingesting it following a drug raid, then later assaulting and harassing a former girlfriend, is slated to ask a judge tomorrow to reduce his bail. Claudiu Murzea, 46, of Rancho Cucamonga is charged with making criminal threats, battery on a domestic partner, violating a protective
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A 33-year-old woman who killed her newborn son and dumped him in a Perris trash bin pleaded guilty today to child cruelty and other offenses and was immediately sentenced to 12 years in state prison, though the term was reduced due to incarceration credits. Â Â Brittany Suzanne Peevyhouse of Perris admitted the abuse count and
Continue Reading A former Cathedral City police officer already facing drug charges and suspected of violating terms of a protective order and attacking a woman was charged today with a felony count of making criminal threats. Â Â Claudiu Murzea, 46, was also charged with one misdemeanor count each of battery on a spouse and violating a court
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“We’re broken. We miss him. And we just want justice,” said Misty Pickton, mother of Mattew Herver, an 18-year-old killed in a shooting back in July. It’s an absence that can never be replaced, the family members of 18-year-old Matthew Hervey recall what they loved most about him “He was just full of life. Very
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A Riverside County sheriff’s correctional deputy accused of engaging in sex acts with female inmates on home detention as part of an extortion scheme must stand trial on nearly a dozen felony counts, a judge ruled today.  Christian Phillip Heidecker, 32, of Menifee was arrested last month following an investigation by the sheriff’s department.  Â
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Police are looking for suspects after a smash-and-grab robbery at a jewelry store on El Paseo in Palm Desert. The robbery was reported at approximately 4:26 p.m. on the 73000 block of El Paseo. The reporting party told investigators that multiple subjects entered the business with hooded sweatshirts, masks, and carrying hammers. The suspects smashed
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A Santa Monica man who used his cryptocurrency cash exchange business to launder millions of dollars in criminal proceeds pleaded guilty today to a federal charge. Charles Randol, 33, entered his plea to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program, a crime that carries a prison sentence of up to five years, according to
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A 41-year-old man who tried to snatch a Moreno Valley girl at gunpoint as she walked home from school pleaded guilty today to attempted abduction of a minor. Arturo Ramirez Cisneros admitted the felony count under a plea agreement with the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office. No charges were dismissed as part of the deal.
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A 48-year-old man was arrested for allegedly burglarizing a Rancho Mirage residence earlier this week, authorities said today. The suspect, a Cathedral City resident, was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of burglary and vehicle theft, according to Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Rovann Clevelend. At 6 p.m. Tuesday, members of the Palm Desert station’s Burglary
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A 34-year-old child care service provider from Costa Mesa was convicted today of molesting 16 boys, aged 2 to 14, and showing another victim child pornography. Matthew Antonio Zakrzewski was convicted by the Orange County Superior Court jury of 34 felony sex charges related to 17 victims in crimes that prosecutors said took place from
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A jury today found a Palm Desert woman who attempted to kill her sister and almost ran over her mother mentally competent to stand for a sanity retrial on two felony counts from when she attacked a third woman and committed arson. Jurors returned a verdict Tuesday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio finding
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A 35-year-old man suspected of multiple burglaries in Palm Desert was charged today with one felony count of burglary. Â Â In addition to burglary, Bermuda Dunes transient Zachary Taylor Bulva was charged with one misdemeanor count of possessing drug paraphernalia, according to court records. He was scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Tuesday afternoon
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A Desert Hot Springs man was in custody Tuesday morning and being held without bail accused of sexually assaulting at least two rideshare drivers, and police believe there might be other potential victims. Police arrested Luis Enrique Lora, 20, on August 28, and booked him into the Riverside County Jail in Indio on charges of attempted rape by
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The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department continues to search for a suspect that escaped during a pursuit in Mecca early Friday morning. According the the Sheriff Department they attempted to pull over a suspected DUI driver in the area of Highway 111 and Bay Drive in Mecca, just before 10:00 am. The vehicle failed to yield
Continue Reading A 51-year-old man suspected of sexually assaulting a Lake Elsinore girl and fleeing south of the border, where he was apprehended, was being held today on $2 million bail. The suspect was booked into the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning Wednesday on suspicion of aggravated sexual assault of a child, lewd acts on a minor
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A felon accused of supplying a fatal dose of fentanyl to a Perris boy was charged today with murder and other offenses. Daniel Francisco Ramirez, 21, of Perris, was arrested Monday following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation that began in May. Along with the murder count, Ramirez was charged with furnishing drugs
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A student was suspended from classes Thursday after allegedly making threats against Yucca Valley High School, according to a statement from the Morongo Unified School District. Administrators at the school notified the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Wednesday after being made aware of a student who’d reportedly made threats against the campus and other students, according
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Two San Bernardino residents  suspected of stealing more than $10,000 worth of fragrances from a Palm Desert business, then leading sheriff’s deputies on a vehicle pursuit were arrested, authorities said today. Deputies responded at 7:43 p.m. Tuesday to a report a grand theft that had just occurred in the 72300 block of Highway 111, according
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