Category: kesq-local-news

Jesus Reyes

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (KESQ) – A San Jacinto man was arrested on suspicion of dressing up as staff at a local hospital to steal medical supplies on three separate occasions.

Deputies were called to Eisenhower Health on Bob Hope Drive in Rancho Mirage on July 9 regarding a theft of medical equipment, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office (RSO).

RSO officials said that in three separate incidents in June and July 2025, the suspect stole more than $100,000 worth of surgical equipment and skin grafts, wearing blue scrubs and a surgical mask to blend in with hospital personnel and avoid detection as he gained access to restricted areas of the facility.

During the investigation, deputies were able to identify the suspect as Jason Brauner, 47, of San Jacinto.

Brauner was found on Wednesday while traveling southbound toward San Diego. Deputies from the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office detained Brauner and searched his vehicle, where stolen medical equipment and stolen hospital apparel was located.

A search warrant was served at Brauner’s home that same day, where authorities recovered additional stolen medical supplies valued between $10,000 and $25,000.

Brauner was booked into the John Benoit Detention Center. His charges include grand theft, commercial burglary, and possession of stolen property. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday at the Larson Justice Center.

RSO revealed that the suspect was found to be connected to similar thefts at hospitals in Loma Linda and Newport Beach. Other agencies are currently in the process of filing additional charges related to those incidents.

There may also be additional victims.

The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information related to this case is urged to contact Deputy Marco Castaneda at the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station at (760) 836–1600.

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City News Service

INDIO, Calif. (KESQ) – A felon accused of stealing an e-bicycle in Rancho Mirage and fleeing from sheriff’s deputies while armed was charged today with burglary and other offenses, while a Coachella woman was charged with conspiring with him.

Ruben Murillo Galindo Jr. and Esther Cordova Montoya, both 42, were arrested last month following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation that began in early June.

Both Galindo and Montoya were charged with the felony burglary count, but Galindo alone was charged with being a felon in possession of a loaded firearm, resisting arrest and a sentence-enhancing allegation of perpetrating a crime while on bail. Montoya alone was charged with parole violations.

Galindo pleaded not guilty Thursday during an arraignment before Superior Court Judge Arthur Hester, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Aug. 18 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio. The defendant is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.

Montoya, who is free on a $35,000 bond, is slated for arraignment on Sept. 8.  

According to sheriff’s Sgt. James Mills, on the morning of June 7, Galindo allegedly broke into a residence on Via Del Rossi in Rancho Mirage, removed the owner’s e-bike and fled, allegedly with Montoya’s help.

Security surveillance video cameras at the property recorded the theft from beginning to end, Mills alleged.   

He said Burglary Suppression Team investigators identified Montoya first, and she was taken into custody without incident after a search warrant was served at her residence on July 25 in the 51400 block of Ponderosa Drive. She posted bond within a couple of days and was released from jail.

Galindo was identified as the alleged burglar less than a week later, and he was tracked down in the area of Seventh Street and Orchard Avenue in Coachella on July 31.

Mills said when deputies confronted him, he tried to flee on a bike, discarding a “bag containing a loaded firearm and ammunition” in the process.

Deputies took him into custody without further incident moments later.   

Details on the defendants’ prior convictions were not available.

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Spencer Blum

Some brutal and record-breaking temperatures were recorded in the Coachella Valley on Thursday. Palm Springs, Indio, Thermal, and Borrego Springs all broke—or tied—daytime high records, with Palm Springs hitting a scorching 119°. That officially tied the day as the hottest of 2025 so far.

Tomorrow won’t be as brutal, but still dangerously hot—5-8° above average.

Trying to find early morning relief? Hah! Don’t let our overnight “lows” fool you, our coolest temps this morning were still hotter than the highs in many major cities across the country!

An Extreme Heat Warning, along with a First Alert Weather Alert, remains in place through tomorrow evening as highs stay above 115°F.

All this heat comes as a result of a persistent ridge of high pressure over the desert southwest. Because of the persistent heat, we are tracking the buildup of Ozone here at the surface. As a result, the South Coast AQMD has issued an Air Quality Alert for ozone through 8 PM Saturday evening.

It is staying HOT in the valley for the foreseeable future. Even as temperatures fall from their extreme highs today, there isn’t much improvement. Highs will stay well above the average and above 110°F.

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Jesus Reyes

NEW YORK (KESQ) – New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner identified three more people killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including a Palm Springs woman, 24 years later.

On Thursday, Mayor Eric Adams and Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham announced the IDs of Barbara Keating of Palm Springs, Ryan Fitzgerald of Floral Park, and another woman whose name was not released. 

The announcement happened thanks to advancements in DNA testing, including increased test sensitivity and faster turnaround times. It has allowed officials to identify remains that had tested negative for identifiable DNA for decades.

“Nearly 25 years after the disaster at the World Trade Center, our commitment to identify the missing and return them to their loved ones stands as strong as ever,” Graham said. “Each new identification testifies to the promise of science and sustained outreach to families despite the passage of time. We continue this work as our way of honoring the lost.”  

News Channel 3’s Jeff Stahl highlighted Keating’s story in 2021, when St. Theresa Catholic Church in Palm Springs held its annual remembrance ceremony.

Keating was aboard American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles. It was the first flight to crash into the World Trade Center towers in New York on September 11, 2001. Keating wasn’t even supposed to fly that day, but was rushing home a day early from her annual summer vacation to help the family with childcare.

The remains of about 1,100 victims remain unidentified.

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Kenji Ito

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ)– The Coachella Valley Firebirds re-sign forward Landon McCallum to a one-year AHL contract for the 2025-26 season. 

NEWS: The #CVFirebirds have re-signed forward Landon McCallum to a one-year, AHL contract for the 2025-26 season.

Welcome Back, Landon!https://t.co/znLazY8h3H #LetsFly pic.twitter.com/JgFhIPxvT3

— Coachella Valley Firebirds (@Firebirds) August 7, 2025

McCallum, 21, played with the Kansas City Mavericks, the Firebirds ECHL affiliate, this past season. In 65 games, the 21-year-old had 15 goals, 24 assists, and 39 points.

Before his stint with the Mavericks, the Delhi native spent the past four seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Sudbury Wolves. The undrafted rookie in 246 games found the back of the net 49 times, tallied 104 assists coming out to 163 points.

In his last two seasons with the Wolves, McCallum made his mark averaging a point per game. The 5’11” forward scored 120 points in 132 games.

McCallum will have the chance to be paired with two former teammates, David Goyette and Nathan Villeneuve.

Goyette had 18 points in 54 games, and Villeneuve had one point in five games played.

Both Goyette and Villeneuve have multiple years in their contract left, so the three former teammates will be reunited for quite some time.

Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing coverage of the Coachella Valley Firebirds all season long. 

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Athena Jreij

PINYON PINES, Calif. (KESQ) — As firefighters enter day four of containment on the Rosa Fire, News Channel 3 is giving viewers an inside look at the command center housing, feeding and sustaining fire crews.

The camp is set up near Lake Hemet where dozens of corresponding agencies have come together, including Riverside County Sheriffs, CalFire, and others.

Tune in this evening for a tour of the center and an inside look at how agencies are working to achieve full containment on the fire.

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Kendall Flynn

LA QUINTA, Calif. (KESQ) – Highway 111 is getting a roadway improvement in La Quinta through a $7 million project. The City said the project was delayed multiple times waiting for federal funding, but now they are anticipating an early end to the project in mid-September.

The roadwork is needed in the area after residents originally faced bumpy roads, pot holes and more. However, its causing long travel days for locals on their daily commute as lanes are closed, traffic lights are off and four-way stops are in place.

Many of the intersections along Highway 111 between Washington Street to Jefferson Street commuters cannot turn left onto side streets because of the inner lanes closure. But locals said they’ve seen drivers turn anyways, causing traffic, road rage and sometimes nearly accidents. 

Lana Clyde is an Indio resident, but takes the 111 through La Quinta daily, especially during the school year. She said she’s worried about safety and traffic once school starts in a few days. 

“Yesterday we had somebody stopped in the middle of the road. Nobody can turn until she moved out of the way, but she had to wait for the other,” Clyde said. “It’s just kind of a scary thing, especially with children.”

The City of La Quinta said it’s taking steps to find solutions for parents ahead of the school year. City officials will be meeting with Desert Sands Unified School District to make alternate route maps for parents. 

The City has also been working to decrease construction impacts by crews only working at night. The schedule change minimizes driver impacts and keeps crews safe in the heat. They will also start Saturday construction schedules Aug. 9 for extra hours, working toward the mid- September end date.

Stay with News Channel 3 to hear from residents about the construction impacts.

The City of La Quinta said all residents and Valley locals can receive updates through text messaging, emails or through the city website. 

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Jesus Reyes

OASIS, Calif. (KESQ) – Three mosquito samples from the Oasis community tested positive for St. Louis Encephalitis virus, the Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District said today.

“Detections like this should serve as a reminder to wear insect repellent when outdoors,” Public Information Manager for the district Robert Gaona said. “Repellent with at least 30% of an active ingredient like DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus or IR3535.”

The samples were collected near the intersections of Johnson Street and Avenue 81, Avenue 82 and Avenue 84.   

St. Louis Encephalitis virus spreads when a female mosquito bites an infected bird and that mosquito can become a carrier to transmit to people, the district said. If a person becomes infected, symptoms could develop with fever, headaches, body aches and in some rare cases, death.

There is no human vaccine for a mosquito-borne virus.   

With the addition of the three positive samples from Oasis, the number of positive mosquito-borne viruses in the Coachella Valley increased to five this year. However, no human cases of any mosquito-related viruses were reported in the state.  

The agency urges the public to take precaution to reduce the risk of mosquito bites, which includes to dump and drain standing water around homes where the insects can breed and to use EPA-registered insect repellents when outdoors, especially at dawn or dusk. In addition, to ensure any window and door screen were in good repair and to report any mosquito problems to the district.

District officials said they will deploy additional technicians to the affected areas to conduct treatment using truck-mounted applications in order to prevent further spread of the virus and reduce  mosquito populations.   

More information can be found at www.cvmosquito.org.

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Jesus Reyes

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (KESQ) – An outage left more than 10,000 customers without power for several hours during triple-digit heat in the Indian Wells area.

According to Southern California Edison, the outage was first reported just before 9 a.m. Power was restored to most customers after 1 p.m.

News Channel 3 received reports that Palm Desert residents were also impacted by the outage.

Click here for a list of cooling center locations

There was no word on the cause of the outage.

Stay with News Channel 3 for any updates.

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Garrett Hottle

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) Purple Heart Day honors the men and women of the Untied States Armed Forces who have been wounded or killed in combat. 

The Purple Heart was originally established in 1782 by General George Washington as the Badge of Military Merit, and is one of the oldest and most respected military decorations still in use. The Palm Springs Chapter of the Air and Space Forces Association said it’s “a symbol of courage, resilience, and dedication beyond self.”

Stay with News Channel 3 to hear from officials on the importance of the day of honor. 

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