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DESERT HOT SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) – Police arrested a 28-year-old man suspected in a deadly shooting in Desert Hot Springs in 2022. Camilo Castillo was arrested on March 31 in Huntington Park. He was charged on Wednesday with first-degree murder, the Desert Hot Springs Police Department announced. Castillo is set to appear in court for
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PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) – Six retailers were cited for illegally selling tobacco products to underage individuals during a tobacco retailer compliance operation, authorities said today. The operation was conducted Wednesday in Palm Desert, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. According to sheriff’s Sgt. Steven Nelson, underage decoys working on behalf of the
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CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. (KESQ) – A 19-year-old man and two 14-year-old boys have been arrested in connection with a deadly shooting earlier this year in Cathedral City. The three suspects were arrested on Wednesday at around 6:30 p.m. at 69155 Dinah Shore Drive, police announced. The two teen suspects were transported to Riverside County Juvenile
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Update – 9:40 p.m. 4/8/26 The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office reported that the suspect refused to exit the vehicle after the crash. The Riverside Sheriff’s Crisis Negotiation Team spoke with the suspect and attempted to negotiate a peaceful surrender. After multiple attempts to negotiate a surrender, the suspect stopped all communication with deputies. The suspect
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MECCA, Calif. (KESQ) – Two Perris men were behind bars today for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars worth of fuel from two Coachella Valley businesses following a years-long investigation into a large-scale organized diesel fuel theft operation, authorities said. A 40-year-old man was booked into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on Tuesday on suspicion
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Cabazon, Calif. (KESQ) – A Los Angeles resident was arrested Tuesday morning in connection with a robbery where an employee was pepper-sprayed last month in Cabazon, authorities announced. The robbery happened on March 28 at a business in the 48600 block of Seminole Drive. “When deputies arrived, they contacted the victim, who had been pepper-sprayed
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MECCA, Calif. (KESQ) – A man and two teenagers were arrested in connection with a deadly shooting last week in Mecca. Daniel Ernesto Molina, 20, and two male teenagers, a 17-year-old and a 16-year-old, all residents of Mecca, were arrested on Wednesday, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office announced. The arrest stems from a deadly shooting
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INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – With the Coachella Music and Arts Festival less than a week away, Indio Police are getting their security measures ready. Next week’s festival is the first time in years Coachella has sold out, and officials are bracing for nearly 250,000 visitors to descend on the area. Tonight, News Channel 3 is
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INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A Coachella Valley Unified School District bus driver accused of molesting an elementary school student pleaded not guilty today to lewd acts on a child under 14 years old. Eric Ochoa Hernandez, 47, of Thermal, was arrested in February following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation at Oasis Elementary School on
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BANNING, Calif. (KESQ) – An ex-substitute teacher from the Coachella Valley who perpetrated lewd acts during online contact with a female student, as well as sexually assaulted another woman, was sentenced to six years in prison on Monday. Edward Noel Alvarado Valadez, 31, of Coachella was convicted earlier this month of exhibiting harmful matter to
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INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – An undocumented immigrant accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old autistic girl lured to his Cathedral City apartment on New Year’s Eve pleaded not guilty today to rape of a minor and other offenses. Enrique Bautista Vasquez, 20, was arrested in January following an investigation by the Cathedral City Police Department that
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MURRIETA, Calif. (KESQ) – A man and woman suspected of smuggling controlled substances to inmates at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta via the U.S. Postal Service were arrested today. A 29-year-old woman from Hemet and a 49-year-old man of Murrieta were taken into custody Friday and booked into the Murrieta jail on suspicion of
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HEMET, Calif. (KESQ) – A 36-year-old man suspected of stealing roughly $10,000 worth of Lego sets and other merchandise from local retail stores in Hemet was behind bars today. Hugo Omar Sanchez-Sanchez was booked Wednesday on suspicion of possession of stolen property and organized retail theft, according to the Hemet Police Department. Bail information was
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MECCA, Calif. (KESQ) – Two Coachella Valley residents were arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old girl in the community of Mecca in 2025, authorities said today. Christopher Placencia Balderrama, 19, of Thermal, was booked into the Benoit Detention Center on suspicion of murder, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. He
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Rebecca Haro’s preliminary hearing has been set for May 29 to determine if there is enough evidence to move the case forward against her in connection with the death of her son, Emmanuel Haro.
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RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – A thump, screeching tires, and a stop. That’s the future of bringing pursuits to an end – or preventing them altogether – and it’s all thanks to a new tool being rolled out by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department. The department said it began testing the Grappler system last March. It
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William Frank Rodriguez, the founder of Silvercrest Advertising, had his hearing delayed until April 6 due to defense attorneys still waiting on key discovery in the criminal case against him for an alleged deadly hit-and-run DUI crash.
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INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – Prosecutors intend to retry a man for voluntary manslaughter after a jury deadlocked on whether to convict him for allegedly helping a 22-year-old Rancho Mirage resident obtain the fentanyl that killed him. The Indio jury weighing the fate of Riley Jacob Hagar, 28, of Cathedral City acquitted him Tuesday of murder
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MECCA, Calif. (KESQ) – An 18-year-old man was shot and killed Tuesday night near the Mecca Sports Complex, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies from the Thermal Sheriff’s Station responded at about 7:58 p.m. to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon at the intersection of Coahuilla Street and 6th Street
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Coachella Mayor Steven Hernandez is facing a nine-count grand jury indictment alleging conflict-of-interest violations and perjury tied to city actions and financial disclosure forms, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
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