A 24-year-old man suspected of shooting a 25-year-old man multiple times in a Coachella parking lot must stand trial on an attempted murder charge, a judge ruled today. Issac Vargas additionally faces sentence-enhancing allegations of committing a crime while on bail, causing great bodily injury, and discharging a firearm causing great bodily injury, according to
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The Riverside County District Attorney’s office today sought help from the public in identifying a woman who was murdered by the “Happy Face” serial killer 31 years ago. “Our goal is to identify this victim and provide closure to her family, wherever they may be,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in a statement.
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A 34-year-old man who slipped into an inebriated woman’s room at the Palm Springs hotel where he worked and sexually assaulted her as she lay unconscious had his sentencing date pushed from today to late January. A Banning jury in November deliberated less than a day before finding Alejandro “Alex” Adan of Desert Hot Springs
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A 34-year-old man suspected of stabbing three of his family members, one fatally, following a dispute in Indio re-entered not guilty pleas today to felony charges. Anthony William Piña-German of Indio is charged with one felony count of murder and two felony counts of attempted murder, according to court records. He also faces sentence-enhancing allegations
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Residents in some Indio and La Quinta areas woke up without video, internet, and phone service on Friday. Spectrum is blaming “a damaged fiber optic cable caused by vandalism.” Indio Police are investigating. Site of the outage Dennis Johnson, Senior Director West Region Communications for Spectrum, tells News Channel 3 that at least half of
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A mother who allegedly bought a gun for her unlicensed bounty hunter son accused of fatally shooting a knife-wielding fugitive in front of Palm Springs police officers must stand trial on murder, a judge ruled today. Lisa Roberta Vargas, 55, and her son Fabian Hector Herrera, 38, were arrested in 2021 for the shooting death
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A felon who joined two others in breaking into a house that had been evacuated due to threats from a large wildfire near Hemet was on probation today after admitting misdemeanor charges. John Jason Blackwood, 45, of Hemet on Thursday admitted a trespassing count, along with a charge of entering an area closed due to
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On the one-year anniversary of his death, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office is honoring fallen Deputy Isaiah Cordero. Watch it in the player below. RSO Remembers Deputy Isaiah Cordero, EOW: December 29, 2022Isaiah Cordero began his service with the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office as a Correctional Deputy on May 5, 2014, and was assigned to
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A 21-year-old man suspected of driving drunk and triggering a three-vehicle crash in Cathedral City that killed another motorist pleaded not guilty today to felony charges. Angel Gabriel Torres Hernandez of Cathedral City was charged with one felony count of DUI gross vehicular manslaughter, two felony counts of driving under the influence of alcohol causing
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INDIO (CNS) – Jurors continued deliberating today in the trial of a former Los Angeles police officer suspected of fatally shooting a developmentally disabled man and critically wounding the victim’s parents in the Corona Costco. Salvador Alejandro Sanchez, 33, of Corona, is charged with voluntary manslaughter and two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
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A suspected shoplifter crashed into an Indio police E-Bike while trying to flee a shopping center parking lot Wednesday afternoon. The incident happened at around 1:00 p.m. at the Five Below in the area of Avenue 42nd and Jackson Street. According to acting Lt. Lisa Courtney of the Indio Police Dept., an officer on an
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On January 1, a New California law protecting Black youth will go into effect. The law creates an emergency alert system, similar to a Silver Alert or an Amber Alert, that aims to help find missing Black youth between the ages of 12 and 25. According to the bill’s text, the Ebony Alert is “designed
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A 32-year-old man suspected of torturing and killing his 6-month-old son in Indio must stand trial for murder, a judge ruled today. Jawhon Sherod Burts was also charged with one felony count each of assault on a child under 8 with great bodily injury resulting in death and torture, according to court records. He also
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A 36-year-old man suspected of driving under the influence and causing a fatal crash pleaded not guilty today to felony charges. Alexander Frank Ortega was charged with one felony count each of murder, driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury and driving under the influence of alcohol .08% or more causing bodily
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A 38-year-old man suspected of driving through a red light in Desert Hot Springs and causing a collision that led to another man’s death was charged today with murder. Tyson Michael Rodriguez, 38, of Arcata is set to be arraigned on the charge Tuesday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. Officers responded
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A 27-year-old man suspected of sexually assaulting a woman in Rancho Mirage pleaded not guilty today to felony charges and authorities sought the public’s help regarding other possible victims of the defendant. Reginald Demond Macon Jr. of Indio was charged with one felony count each of rape by force or fear, oral copulation by use
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A 36-year-old man suspected of driving under the influence and causing a fatal crash was charged today with felony charges including murder. Alexander Frank Ortega was also charged with one felony count each of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury and driving under the influence of alcohol .08% or more causing bodily
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A 39-year-old man who broke into his neighbor’s home in Palm Desert was sentenced today to two years of formal probation. Stephen Eric Cunningham of Palm Desert was convicted Nov. 8 of one felony count each of possession of an assault weapon, possession of a firearm, and vandalism, according to court records. He was
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A 26-year-old Joshua Tree man was arrested and charged with murder in connection with the fentanyl overdose of a 33-year-old last year. The investigation dates back to Nov. 2, 2022, when deputies responded to the death of Steven Lockhart of Yucca Valley. The death was determined to be an overdose, prompting the San Bernardino County
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A two-month investigation into drug smuggling throughout the Riverside County correctional system netted nine arrests, with the majority of the suspects in custody today. According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, the probe was initiated in October to ferret out sources of the fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine being funneled into the county’s five jails. Sgt.
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