Crime

A 43-year-old man who killed a 23-year-old former high school and college football player in a hit-and-run crash in Desert Hot Springs has pleaded guilty to DUI gross vehicular manslaughter and was sentenced to 11 years in state prison. Jose Roberto Tafoya-Flores pleaded guilty Tuesday at the Larson Justice Center in Indio to one felony

A 35-year-old man from Twentynine Palms who was involved in a two-car crash while under the influence of marijuana is sentenced to 10 years in state prison for gross vehicular manslaughter. Michael Anthony Wright was driving impaired from cannabis when his Audi sedan broadsided a Volkswagen driven by a 68-year-old woman from Yucca Valley at

Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin has cleared Indio police officers for their roles in two separate officer-involved shootings dating back to April 2019. APRIL 10, 2019 SHOOTING The first officer-involved shooting occurred on April 10, 2019. The suspect, Anthony Santana, 21, was fatally shot at the Las Palmas Apartments near the intersection of Las

Indio police arrested five people, including three juveniles, Monday during an operation connected to a shooting investigation. Three other suspects remain outstanding. Monday at around 7:00 a.m., police served search warrants at several residences in Indio, Thermal, Coachella and La Quinta. The warrants were related to a shooting that occurred on January 18 in the

A 65-year-old man accused in the fatal stabbing of a woman in Palm Springs re-entered not guilty pleas to felony charges today.    Miguel Hernandez Toscano is facing one felony count of murder and one misdemeanor court of willful cruelty to a child, according to court records. He also faces a sentence-enhancing allegation of using

A man who sped away from Cathedral City police during a 2018 traffic stop, dragging an officer, was sentenced today to 13 years and 8 months in state prison. Steven Flores, 36, of Cathedral City, faced five felony counts, one each of attempted murder, assault with a semi-automatic firearm, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon

A 43-year-old man was accused of fatally shooting a man in Palm Springs whom he said had thrown rocks at him, an officer testified today during a preliminary hearing. Jeffrey Burgess of Sky Valley is charged with one felony count of murder for the June 22, 2021 killing of 44-year-old Jose Sosa of Coachella and

Two young men suspected in a car-to-car shooting in the parking lot of The Shops in Palm Desert pleaded not guilty to felony charges today. Adelanto residents Allen Curcio Adams Jr., 19, and Alexander Brice Alvarado, 20, were charged with four felony counts of attempted murder and one felony count each of shooting at a

A 19-year-old man and a 14-year-old teen were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder today, with authorities accusing the Coachella residents of shooting at two other Coachella teenagers last month. The teens were arrested without incident Thursday after authorities served warrants at their Coachella residences, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. The 19-year-old was

Two additional suspects in a shooting that damaged the Palm Desert mall have been arrested, authorities announced. On Wednesday, The car-to-car shooting happened back on Feb. 2, on the JCPenny side of the mall parking lot. Police said over 40 rounds were fired in the gang-related shooting. No injuries were reported in the shooting, however, at

A 38-year-old man pleaded guilty today to having approximately 900 feet of stolen cable for copper wire and was immediately sentenced to two years in county jail. Nicholas Dumas of Desert Hot Springs was arrested Monday for being in possession of stolen property, according to deputy Michael Shacklett of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. Shacklett

A 21-year-old man suspected of being in possession of a loaded firearm while driving into College of the Desert was behind bars today. The Indio resident was arrested Tuesday night on suspicion of being in possession of a machine gun and carrying a loaded firearm, according to Sgt. Paul Heredia of the Riverside County Sheriff’s

A Thermal man was arrested Tuesday afternoon after allegedly assaulting a firefighter are they were putting out a fire. According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, deputies were called to the 53000 block of Fillmore Street just after 5:00 p.m. regarding an assault on a firefighter. Deputies arrived on the scene and arrested a 74-year-old

A 40-year-old man accused of killing a Palm Springs retiree in 2008 risked everything for a promise of fortune by helping to kill a man who was simply looking for companionship, a prosecutor told jurors today, but a defense attorney insisted that his client was falsely accused and used as a pawn in the deadly

A jury was seated today and testimony got underway in the trial of a 28-year-old Coachella Valley man accused of fatally stabbing his girlfriend during a frenzied attack possibly stemming from drug use. Christian Alejandro Pacheco is charged with murder, arson, assault with a deadly weapon, animal cruelty and a sentence-enhancing allegation of using a