Prosecutors today addressed the dismissal of charges against a 38-year-old Palm Springs man who was accused of assaulting a resident with an iron during a home invasion. Taylor Donald Hurst was released Wednesday morning after a judge at Indio’s Larson Justice Center dismissed felony counts of robbery, assault with a non-firearm deadly weapon to cause
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Alexander Paffendorf, 20, of Carlsbad was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the Madison, Wisconsin school shooting. The FBI says Paffendorf admitted to telling 15-year-old Natalie “Samantha” Rupnow that he would arm himself with explosives and a gun, and that he would target a government building. Rupnow shot and killed a student Rubi Patricia Vergara,
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New evidence has surfaced in a four-year-long investigation into the shooting deaths of seven foreign nationals who were connected to an illegal marijuana grow in Aguanga, authorities said today. The two men and five women, who had emigrated from Laos, were gunned down on the night of Sept. 7, 2020, at a remote hillside property
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A 26-year-old man was arrested after an attempted bank robbery Monday afternoon in Desert Hot Springs. The incident happened at the Chase Bank on Palm Drive and Hacienda Avenue. Police said they were called out to the bank at around 2:25 p.m. after a man, identified as Angel Ayala, presented a demand note a teller.
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A pursuit involving a stolen vehicle from Desert Hot Springs ended with the juvenile suspect ramming into police units over the weekend in Palm Springs. According to the Desert Hot Springs Police Officers Association, the incident happened on Saturday. Desert Hot Springs police responded to a robbery where a man was robbed of his cash,
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Jury deliberations began today in the trial of a woman, her father and boyfriend accused of luring a 29-year-old man to a Cathedral City park for an ambush that led to him being fatally stabbed because the woman falsely claimed he had raped her. Rena Lizette Alaniz, 24, of Thousand Palms, Carlos Antonio Ruiz, 44,
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A 23-year-old man accused of killing two people who were found in a burned vehicle was held to answer today. A judge ruled Monday that Luis Armenta of Indio must stand trial on two counts of murder with sentence-enhancing allegations of having more than one victim and discharge of a firearm causing great bodily harm,
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A man was arrested for driving under the influence after police said he crashed into another car Saturday night in Cathedral City. The two-vehicle crash was reported at around 10:40 p.m. at the intersection of Date Palm Drive & Buddy Rogers Avenue. Police said officers arrived on scene and found two vehicles with major damage.
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An attempted murder charge was downgraded to a felony count of assault with a gun for a 21-year-old suspect previously accused of shooting at two Coachella teenagers, authorities said today. Salomon “Bookie” Cruz-Rodriguez Jr. had been accused of attempted murder in connection with a parking lot shooting on Feb. 17, 2023, according to a declaration
Continue Reading Closing statements are scheduled Monday in the trial of a woman, her father and boyfriend accused of luring a 29-year-old man to a Cathedral City park for an ambush that led to him being stabbed 30 times because the woman falsely claimed he had raped her. Rena Lizette Alaniz, 24, of Thousand Palms, Carlos Antonio
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A 23-year-old man suspected in a fatal shooting outside an Indio residence pleaded guilty to a voluntary manslaughter charge today, while a murder charge remains active. Ramon Manuel Romo-Tirado of Indio entered the guilty plea on Friday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, according to case records. Thalia Hayden of the Riverside County District
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A pair of suspects arrested following a burglary investigation in Desert Center were serving a probationary sentence today following guilty pleas. Desert Center resident John Bell, 56, and Andrew Grana, 49, of the San Bernardino County community of Earp, each pleaded guilty to a felony count of burglary Wednesday at the Larson Justice Center in
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Desert Hot Springs City Councilmember and recent mayoral candidate Russell Betts entered not guilty pleas to a pair of charges today following an alleged road rage incident. Betts pleaded not guilty to a felony count of vandalism and a misdemeanor count of false imprisonment at the Riverside Hall of Justice on Thursday, according to case
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Deputies discovered $100 million worth of illegal marijuana at a stash house in San Bernardino County. The discovery was made when authorities served a search warrant Marijuana Stash House was located at 5000 Block of Honeyhill Road in Oak Hills. According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, deputies seized 51 truckloads of 90,000 pounds
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A 26-year-old Indio man was killed in an officer-involved shooting at a Las Vegas casino over the weekend, authorities confirmed. Cesar Reyes II was identified by the Clark County Coroner’s Office on Monday, according to KSNV. The shooting happened Sunday at around 5:05 p.m. at the South Point Hotel and Casino. Police said the incident began
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A judge ordered the assets of Jacob Rostovsky, the CEO of the local non-profit Queer Works, to be frozen as his fraud case continues to move ahead. Rostovsky, 33, was indicted in October on 53 felony counts in a fraud scheme surrounding a universal basic income pilot program in Palm Springs. Charges including fraudulent claims, grand
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A 42-year-old Palm Springs resident accused of stabbing a man and threatening to stab an am/pm convenience store clerk was awaiting sentencing today after pleading guilty to attempted murder and other charges. Christopher William Freitas also entered guilty pleas Monday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to two felony counts of criminal threats and
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A man was recovering at Eisenhower Health as police searched for a suspect who stabbed him at Miles Avenue Park in Indio Monday. Police say the female suspect, in her 30s, was known by them, and she posed no danger to the public. The 64-year-old victim was stabbed with a knife during a disturbance between
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It’s the holiday season and local officials say this is when burglaries tend to increase. About 1 million burglaries happen in the United States annually, with around 83,000 of them happening in December, according to a 2022 survey from Porch. Indio police are investigating a break-in at Johnson Photos on the 82000 block of Miles Avenue, where suspects
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A Cathedral City man was arrested after being accused of threatening firefighters with a knife after he started several fires in Morongo Valley over the weekend. The incident happened Saturday at around 3:45 p.m. on the 10200 block of Hawk Valley Road, near Cedar Drive. According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, fire personnel
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