Through the end of June and into July, homicides in the Coachella Valley doubled the total of the previous five months to start the year. As of June 23rd, there were five homicides in the Coachella Valley; from June 30th to now, six more have been added to that total, which now stands at eleven
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Child exploitation officers and FBI units raided a home in Rancho Mirage Friday morning in relation to an investigation over child sexual abuse material distribution. At around 7:00 a.m., the Riverside County District Attorney’s office and the FBI were pulling people out of this home on the corner of Jasmine and Sunny. News Channel 3
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Felony charges were filed against a 59-year-old man wanted in connection with two Palm Desert bank robberies. Anaheim resident Reese Westenberger was charged with one count of robbery, for which he pled not guilty Friday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Westenberger is only charged with one of the two bank robberies, the
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A 32-year-old Palm Springs man has pleaded guilty to a felony charge for his role in a 2023 operation that started in Rancho Mirage in which a person was lured into a vehicle, driven away and robbed. Nicholas Tyler Young, accused of being the driver in the robbery, entered the guilty plea on Tuesday to
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A boost in California National Guard troops at the southern border, including in San Diego County, helped authorities seize more than 1 million fentanyl pills and over 400 pounds of fentanyl powder last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said today. In June, the California National Guard Counterdrug Task Force seized 1,068,219 pills and 423 pounds
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A 41-year-old former dump truck driver who caused a deadly 1,000-acre blaze in Calimesa by intentionally dropping flaming debris from his rig in the middle of a Santa Ana windstorm was on probation today after admitting felony charges. Antonio Ornelas Velazquez of Desert Hot Springs pleaded guilty on Tuesday to two counts of involuntary manslaughter
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The Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station Investigations Bureau has identified the man suspected of robbing two Palm Desert banks earlier this year. On July 23, investigators located the suspect, a 59-year-old resident of Anaheim, in the 20 block of W. Beacon Avenue in Anaheim. He was taken into custody and subsequently booked into the Larry D.
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Update 7/22/24 Police confirmed that a juvenile suspect was arrested in connection with the incident. The altercation was revealed to have been a stabbing that left two people injured. One person was pronounced dead at the scene. There was no update on the second person, who was hospitalized on Friday. Original Report 7/19/24 At 9:28
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A September trial date was set today for a 39-year-old man suspected of driving under the influence and causing a traffic collision in the Thermal area that left one man dead and another person seriously injured. Along with murder, Coachella resident Antonio Tellez Leon is also charged with one felony count each of driving under
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More than $1 million worth of cocaine was found hidden in an SUV at the U.S. Border Patrol Highway 86 immigration checkpoint. The incident started when a white SUV approached the U.S. Border Patrol Highway 86 immigration checkpoint last Monday at around 2:50 p.m. According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, during the primary
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Three people were detained after a bank robbery in Palm Springs Thursday afternoon. At approximately 5:10 P.M., Palm Springs Police Department (PSPD) received a call reporting an attempted armed robbery at the Wells Fargo on Vista Chino and Sunrise Way. According to PSPD, a man had entered the bank and contacted a teller. He then
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A convicted felon who killed a Desert Hot Springs man while vandalizing his property in a feud connected to a business transaction was sentenced today to 50 years to life in state prison. A Banning jury in May convicted James John Angle, 48, of Indio of first-degree murder for the 2018 death of Joseph Gimino.
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A San Bernardino County man has been arrested for owning an illegal weapon and ammunition. On Tuesday, deputies from the Morongo Basin Sheriff’s Station coordinated with the California State Parole Fugitive Task Force in a joint operation to locate wanted felons. California State Parole was actively looking for Dakota Blaise-Parra, a 25-year-old resident of Twentynine
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One person was killed and two others were injured after a shooting in Desert Hot Springs Wednesday afternoon. The violence was reported at 4:53 p.m. on Two Bunch Palms Trail in front of Desert Springs Middle School. Details were limited. DHSPD Chief Jim Henson confirmed at the scene that the two injured people were rushed
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A Colton man pleaded guilty Wednesday to his involvement in a Palm Desert jewelry store robbery more than two years ago and was immediately sentenced to three years in prison. Demetrius Thornton, 25, entered the guilty plea to a felony robbery charge at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. A related charge of assault
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A convicted felon who gunned down a Riverside motel guest after the victim punched him was convicted today of first-degree murder. A Riverside jury deliberated less than a day before finding Robert Donald Intong, 48, of Desert Hot Springs guilty of the 2021 slaying of 31-year-old Cole William Birchard of Riverside. Along with the murder
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An Arizona man pleaded guilty to multiple charges today and was immediately sentenced to jail time and probation for illegally smuggling firearms and ammunition across a state border. Alexis Ayala Molina, 22, of Phoenix, pleaded guilty at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to one of 29 original counts of assault weapon possession and two
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A GoFundMe page has launched in connection with the killing of a Desert Hot Springs man on Friday night. Christian Salas, 31, tragically died in a homicide shooting and is survived by his wife, Rachel Salas, and their six children. Salas organized the GoFundMe to put her husband to rest. Salas wrote, “I’m asking for help
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Five Riverside County men and a Las Vegas resident are facing a federal charge of taking part in a series of burglaries and attempted burglaries at firearms stores across Southern California, pilfering more than 300 weapons, prosecutors said today. Lake Elsinore residents Cross Arjay Goree, 18, Caine Aiden Goree, 22, Brendan Markel Hawkins, 19,
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At 1:59 P.M. today, deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department received a report of a shooting in the area of Vista Del Norte and Dillon Road in Coachella. When deputies arrived to the gated community of Villas at the Vineyards, they were able to locate evidence that a shooting had taken place, however, no
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