The shaman of an Inland Empire religious sect who is accused of sexually assaulting several young girls was charged today with forcible rape and more than a half-dozen other felony counts. Ricardo Isaac Flores, 59, of Rialto was arrested Wednesday following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation that began last week. Â Â Along with rape,
Continue Reading
Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said today he was aghast over a judicial decision granting freedom to a convicted child rapist stricken with cancer but with more than three decades left to serve in his state prison term. Â Â “While early release has become increasingly common, it is appalling that this release was even
Continue Reading
A 59-year-old probationer who killed a Cabazon man in a rage over false accusations that the victim had sexually assaulted the defendant’s girlfriend was sentenced today to 15 years to life in state prison. A Riverside jury in June convicted Richard Eugene Seevers of Cabazon of second-degree murder for the 2021 slaying of 31-year-old Dillon
Continue Reading
A woman accused of killing her newborn child and dumping her in a trash receptacle behind a Riverside business almost four decades ago will be arraigned next month on a murder charge. Melissa Jean Allen Avila, 55, of Shelby, North Carolina, was arrested earlier this week following a yearslong investigation by the Riverside Police Department
Continue Reading
A Desert Hot Springs man who took part in the ambush slaying of a marijuana dealer during an attempted robbery was convicted of first-degree murder and other charges Thursday. Angel Arangure,22, was also convicted of three counts of attempted robbery. Jurors at the Larson Justice Center in Indio also found true a special circumstance allegation
Continue Reading
Updated Wednesday at 9:40 p.m.: Riverside County Sheriff’s investigators confirmed four suspects were detained. An investigation is ongoing. Original Post: Deputies continue to search for suspects following an investigation into a stolen vehicle that was first spotted in San Jacinto before being followed all the way to the mall in Palm Desert. The incident started
Continue Reading
A man was arrested in connection with a stabbing last week in Yucca Valley. Deputies from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department Morongo Basin Station were called to the 7000 Block of Hopi Trail July 29 where they learned a victim was at the residence when a dispute took place with the suspect.The Sheriff’s Dept. said
Continue Reading Jury deliberations are expected to get underway today in the trial of a 22-year-old man accused of taking part in the ambush slaying of a Desert Hot Springs marijuana dealer during an attempted robbery. Angel Arangure of Desert Hot Springs is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted robbery, along with a special
Continue Reading
A murder case going back more than three decades, involving a 25-year-old Long Beach woman whose remains were located in Perris, remains active, with authorities today asking anyone who might have information to come forward. Jacqueline “Jackie” Danette Ebel was killed in December 1988. Her murderer’s identity and whereabouts are unknown, according to the Riverside
Continue Reading
Jury selection got underway today for the trial of a 29-year-old probationer accused of trying to kill a man with shots to the head during a Desert Hot Springs home invasion robbery, from which the defendant fled but was ultimately apprehended. Â Â Altonia Vontae Jackson Jr. is charged with attempted murder, robbery, carjacking, shooting at
Continue Reading
A Coachella man suspected of driving under the influence and causing a crash that killed a 36-year-old woman in Palm Desert must stand trial for murder, a judge ruled today. Alberto Lopez, 27, was held to answer Thursday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. His next scheduled court appearance is a post-preliminary hearing arraignment
Continue Reading
A Nov. 4 trial date was set today for a former school volunteer accused of multiple sex crimes involving children in the Coachella Valley. James McCall Anderson, 36, is charged with two felony counts of knowingly distributing harmful matter and two misdemeanor counts of immoral acts before a child, according to court records. The
Continue Reading
Two of the three suspects arrested in connection with a deadly robbery at a Palm Springs parking structure were officially charged with murder. Cathedral City resident Eliberto Jesus Genera III, 23, and Palm Springs resident Jorge Adan Maciel III, 20, were each charged with murder on Wednesday. Maciel was also charged with an assault with
Continue Reading
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
Continue Reading
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
Continue Reading
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
Continue Reading
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
Continue Reading
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
Continue Reading
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
Continue Reading
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.
Continue Reading