Investigators were working today to unravel what prompted a retired Ventura Police Department sergeant to go on a shooting rampage inside a famed Orange County biker bar, killing three people and injuring six others before being killed in an apparent shootout with responding sheriff’s deputies. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department identified the gunman Thursday morning
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A man accused in the hit-and-run death of a 39-year-old man in Palm Springs more than a year ago entered not guilty pleas today. Chad Steinmetz, 42, had a warrant issued for his arrest May 24, when he was also charged with one felony count of a hit-and-run causing death, according to court records.
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At least 10 people were shot at Cook’s Corner, a famed biker bar in Orange County Wednesday night. Authorities said three people were killed as well as the shooter. The shooting occurred at about 7:30 p.m. at Cook’s Corner in the 19100 block of Santiago Canyon Road. Video from the scene clearly showed multiple bodies
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A GoFundMe page has been set up to help family with funeral expenses for a 16-year-old boy killed in a shooting in Coachella over the weekend. Joseph Aroz, 16, was pronounced dead after being shot Sunday at around 9:07 p.m. in the 53500 block of Cesar Chavez Street. Family said the shooting happened at the
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A Cathedral City man suspected in a fight that led to a fatal shooting at an Applebee’s Grill & Bar had his bail reduced today by $900,000. Willie R. Bustamante, 33, is charged with one felony count of murder and faces a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury, according to court
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A 20-year-old man pleaded not guilty today to murder and other charges stemming from the kidnapping and death of a young woman who was attacked at Penn Park in Whittier and whose body was found a day later in Riverside County. Gabriel Sean Esparza of Whittier is charged with one count each of murder, kidnapping
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A 41-year-old man was sentenced to three years and four months in state prison today for a 2019 street racing collision that killed two senior citizens in Coachella. Angel Ramirez pleaded guilty in April to two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence stemming from the May 17, 2019, crash that killed Sofia Prieto, 74,
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A Hemet policeman accused of assaulting a woman during an arrest, inflicting major head trauma, pleaded not guilty today to assault resulting in great bodily injury and other offenses. Jacob Alan Hobson, 29, was arrested last week following a Force Investigation Detail Task Force probe, relying on Riverside County District Attorney’s Office and sheriff’s personnel.
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A probationer and his cohort accused of killing a 31-year-old Cabazon man whose remains still haven’t been located pleaded not guilty today to murder. Richard Eugene Seevers, 58, of Banning, and Frank Edward Mansfield, 48, of Cabazon, were arrested earlier this month following a two-year Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation into the disappearance and death
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The Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept. is investigating a robbery at a Cabazon outlets store where an employee was pepper sprayed. The robbery was reported Monday around 8:00 p.m. on the 48000 block of Seminole Drive. “The reporting party advised three subjects entered the business, stole items, and pepper sprayed an employee,” Authorities said the employee
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A teenage boy was killed in a shooting Sunday night in the city of Coachella. The shooting was reported at around 9:07 p.m. in the 53500 block of Cesar Chavez Street. Deputies arrived at the scene and found a 16-year-old boy with gunshot wounds. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene. Deputies secured the
Continue Reading A Hemet Police Department officer who allegedly caused serious injuries to a female suspect he was attempting to arrest in late July was charged with a trio of felonies, authorities said today. Officer Jacob Hobson was charged Thursday with assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury and two counts of assault by a
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A 19-year-old man suspected in the non-deadly shooting of a 32-year-old man in Coachella in late July pleaded not guilty to attempted murder today. Jeraldo Mederos of Indio pleaded not guilty to the charge Friday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Patrol units from the Thermal sheriff’s station responded at 9:36 p.m.
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A 65-year-old man suspected of sexually assaulting a minor pleaded not guilty today to several felony charges. Oscar William Alvarez of Palm Desert was charged with one felony count each of engaging in oral copulation or sexual penetration with a child under 10, penetration by force, sodomy with a person under 18, and annoying
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A man who fatally shot another man in an unincorporated area of Riverside County near Indio was convicted today of murder. Ruben Corria Esquivel Jr., 34, of Coachella was also convicted of being a felon and narcotic addict in possession of a firearm, and jurors additionally found true a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging a firearm
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Law enforcement agencies across the County of Los Angeles have partnered to establish a task force to investigate, apprehend and prosecute suspects who have committed retail theft as businesses grapple with an uptick of smash-and-grabs in recent weeks. In a press conference Thursday morning, Mayor Karen Bass announced the Organized Retail Crimes Task Force that
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A 65-year-old Palm Desert man was arrested after being accused of sexually assaulting a minor. The man was arrested Wednesday at around 11 a.m. on the 39000 block of Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage. According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept., the report of the sexual assault first came in on April 3, 2023.
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Some local business owners are on high alert after an attempted smash-and-grab armed robbery in downtown Palm Springs Tuesday. The suspects are still at large. Organized retail theft like smash and grabs and flash mob robberies have sadly become much more common. This is not the first smash-and-grab attempt in the Coachella Valley within the past
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A Cathedral City man who killed another man in 2017 in Banning out of jealousy over a woman was convicted today of first-degree murder. Ronald Dean Ricks, 37, was convicted of the murder count, and jurors also found true a special-circumstance allegation of discharging a firearm from a vehicle and a sentence-enhancing allegation of discharging
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Former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges including obstruction of justice, wire fraud and lying to federal investigators stemming in part from his actions during an aborted city effort to sell Angel Stadium, according to court documents filed today. “While serving as Anaheim’s mayor, Mr. Sidhu took a series
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