A Palm Desert High School teacher and football coach was charged with murder today after he allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian while intoxicated over the weekend. Cameron Francis Curtis, 31, of Palm Desert additionally faces a sentence enhancing allegation of great bodily injury, according to court records.  He’s set to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon
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A lockdown that led to several tense hours at Coachella Valley High School has been lifted following unfounded reports of a student with a knife, officials confirmed. Parents and guardians were outside the gates of the school Tuesday morning, waiting for information on the lockdown. Eventually, they were directed to the main gym to pick
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Desert Springs Middle School was placed on a brief lock out Tuesday afternoon due to police activity nearby. Parents/guardians were notified by the Palm Springs Unified School District at around 3:40 p.m., a text to parents showed. The lock out was lifted by 3:53 p.m. School officials said there was no threat to any students
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A 24-year-old man has been charged for his alleged role in a high-speed crash that killed three people in Palm Desert during the holidays. Ricardo Adrian Meza was officially charged with three counts of murder on Tuesday, the Riverside County District Attorney’s office confirmed. He was scheduled to be arraigned on those charges Tuesday afternoon,
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Update 3/8/23: Police confirmed the person killed was a male juvenile. Their age was not disclosed. As of Wednesday evening, there have been no arrest made. There was no word on a possible description of a suspect or suspects. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Jason Kupka at 760-329-2904 x354 or Detective Celia
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A 33-year-old Orange County man who hit an Indio police officer with his pickup and led law enforcement on a brief chase near the Coachella Music & Arts Festival was bound for state prison today to serve a four-year sentence. Michael Anthony Berber of Fountain Valley pleaded guilty in January to assault with a deadly
Continue Reading A Desert Sands Unified School District employee and high school football coach remains behind bars after being suspected of driving under the influence and causing a deadly crash over the weekend. Cameron Curtis, 31, was arrested at a little after 6:00 p.m. on Saturday following a crash on Calliandra Street, east of Alamo Drive. The
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The driver suspected of causing a high-speed crash that killed three people during the holidays in Palm Desert was arrested Friday afternoon. The 24-year-old Palm Desert man was arrested Friday on the 67000 block of Dillon Road in an unincorporated area near Desert Hot Springs, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Dept. announced. Authorities said he was
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Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies cordoned off a portion of the Carver Tract community between Indio and Coachella early Friday morning after reports of a shooting. KESQ The sheriff’s department was called to the scene on Lingayan Avenue, near Van Buren and Avenue 48, just before midnight. Nobody with injuries was found in the neighborhood, but
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A 23-year-old woman accused with three men in an armed robbery last year at a Palm Desert jewelry store pleaded not guilty to felony charges today. Tracy resident Karina Monique Ortega and Demetrius Marquise Thornton, 24, of Colton were each charged with one felony count of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon to cause
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A man from Oregon was charged with arranging to meet a Banning minor after inappropriate online communication, police said. The crime was reported on Feb. 14. Police said mother of a teen girl arrived at the station to report inappropriate online communication between her minor child and a male adult, who was identified as Devon
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A Coachella man who, with a 26-year-old man, kidnapped, robbed, assaulted and extorted a victim for money is facing six years in state prison today after pleading guilty to felony charges. Alexander Henry Edlund, 34, pleaded guilty Wednesday afternoon to one felony count each of kidnap for ransom, robbery, criminal threats to cause great bodily
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Indio station Border Patrol agents made a fiery seizure Tuesday morning. Border Patrol agents and K-9 Edy found a flamethrower, a handgun, and about $233,000 in cash while stopping a smuggling scheme. US Border Patrol seizes Cash💵, Gun🔫, & Flamethrower🔥K9 Edy & agents in Indio, Ca put the flames out on this smuggling scheme when
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A 46-year-old man accused of beating and stabbing his girlfriend during a domestic dispute at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa in Cabazon was charged today with attempted murder and other offenses. Jesse Romero of Bellflower was arrested Sunday night following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation on the casino property in the 49500 block
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Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin today joined the father of a college student who died from fentanyl poisoning, along with a federal law enforcement official, in calling on the state Legislature to pass laws that would mandate warnings to drug suppliers that they could face murder charges if what they sell kills someone. “We
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 27-year-old man suspected of assaulting a 24-year-old man in La Quinta and stealing his wallet and cell phone pleaded not guilty to attempted robbery today. Skylar Ray Brannen-Grove of La Quinta pleaded not guilty to the felony charge Tuesday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Deputies responded to the 45900 block of Adams
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A man who sold fentanyl pills that killed a 20-year-old college student in Temecula, prompting her father to initiate a nationwide campaign calling for action to break the fentanyl supply chain and bust the dealers, was sentenced today to nine years in federal prison. Brandon Michael McDowell, 24, pleaded guilty in August to possession with
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A Riverside tax preparer pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for filing thousands of tax returns that falsely claimed deductions, such as fake medical expenses and bogus mortgage interest, and which caused more than $3 million in losses to the IRS.  Andrew Hansack, 39, entered his plea in Los Angeles federal court to two
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A Whitewater man pleaded guilty and was sentenced today for driving drunk and killing a 56-year-old man, apologizing to the family and hearing the fianceé and daughter of the decedent speak about the life that was taken from them. Austin George Jackson, 35, pleaded guilty Friday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to
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A 21-year-old man was arrested for allegedly being in possession of 26 grams of cocaine and a Coachella teen was arrested on suspicion of being armed with a loaded ghost gun, authorities said today. During a robbery investigation Thursday, the Thermal sheriff’s station Special Investigations Unit and the Fugitives and Warrants Enforcement Team were in
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