Category: kesq-local-news

City News Service

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) – The Board of Supervisors today tentatively approved an ordinance restricting where electric bicycles can be operated, generally prohibiting them from being driven on pedestrian walkways, along sidewalks or on nature and equestrian trails in unincorporated communities throughout Riverside County.  

The E-Bike Safety Ordinance was drafted at the request of Supervisor Chuck Washington, who first raised the issue of potential conflicts with e-bikes back in September.

“I’ve personally witnessed instances of unsafe behavior by riders and those around them,” Washington said ahead of the 5-0 vote Tuesday. “While they offer many benefits, riders have a responsibility to ensure the bikes are used safely and responsibly.”

The new measure, which is slated to be formally approved after a second reading on May 6, replicates similar ordinances passed in municipalities and other counties statewide.

It classifies e-bikes as pedal-driven motorized two-wheelers that generally rely on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for power, which kicks in when riders have reached speeds of at least 20 mph, aiding the bicyclists in gaining and maintaining momentum.

Washington, along with Supervisors Manuel Perez and Karen Spiegel, all observed that the bikes are becoming more and more popular.   

“I see them coming up and down Highway 74,” Perez said.  

Washington’s initial concern was over the bikes’ growing presence on Temecula Valley Wine Country trails, as well as outdoor recreational sites favored by horse enthusiasts. However, the ordinance would apply to unincorporated areas countywide.

With few exceptions, e-bikes would be prohibited on sidewalks and trails, on pedestrian overpasses and underpasses. However, signage must be posted on sidewalks and trails notifying entrants of the county prohibition, or the ordinance would not be enforceable.

Some usage would be allowed on sidewalks where there are no designated bicycle paths along roadways. The only requirement would be that e-bikers obey all traffic laws and ensure safe passage to avoid conflicts with pedestrians.

Similar restrictions already apply to mopeds and other motor-driven cycles.   

Violators could be issued citations carrying fines of $100 to $500, depending on the number of infractions that occur in a year’s time.

City News Service

UPDATE 4/16/2025:

INDIO (CNS) – A pool serviceman accused of fatally beating a 93-year-old Palm Desert woman during a robbery took steps to prevent forensic evidence from surfacing that might link him to the crime, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

Benjamin Cabrera Briones, 62, of Thousand Palms is charged with first-degree murder, burglary, forgery and special circumstance allegations of killing in the course of a robbery and murder for financial gain in the 2021 death of Jean Grace Willrich.

In her opening statement at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, Riverside County Deputy District Attorney Hawlee Valente told jurors that Briones attempted to keep from getting caught after Willrich’s death.

Valente said Briones wore latex gloves in the hours following the murder, including when he deposited the victim’s check at an ATM outside an Albertson’s supermarket in Palm Desert. The gloves were “found in his work truck, marked with his company logo, Briones’ Pools,” the prosecutor said.

She said that after a search warrant was executed at the defendant’s residence, shoes, pants and other items of evidentiary value were seized. A notepad bearing names and addresses was also located, and “Willrich’s name and address were the only ones crossed out,” the deputy district attorney said.

Briones’ deputy public defender elected not to make an opening statement.

ORIGINAL REPORT 4/15/2025:

INDIO (CNS) – Opening statements are slated tomorrow in the trial of a pool serviceman accused of fatally beating a 93-year-old Palm Desert woman during a robbery.

Benjamin Cabrera Briones, 62, of Thousand Palms is charged with first-degree murder, burglary, forgery and special circumstance allegations of killing in the course of a robbery and murder for financial gain in the 2021 death of Jean Grace Willrich.

A jury was seated for the trial at the end of last week, and Riverside County Superior Court Judge Anthony Villalobos directed jurors to return to the Larson Justice Center in Indio on Wednesday for opening arguments by the prosecution and defense.

Briones is being held without bail at the Benoit Detention Center. If he’s convicted, the defendant faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

During a 2023 preliminary hearing, sheriff’s investigators established that Briones, an independent pool cleaner and handyman, had worked for Willrich, but she terminated his contract several years earlier over a disagreement about his compensation.

On the afternoon of Nov. 29, 2021, the defendant went to Willrich’s property in the 77000 block of Michigan Drive, ostensibly to see if he could repair one of her toilets.

Sheriff’s Investigator Gustavo Castaneda alleged that detectives later learned from interviews with Briones that he never intended to provide a service, but rather wanted to commit theft.

“Mr. Briones stated Ms. Willrich let him in and eventually, when he started looking around, a confrontation started, and that’s when he proceeded to assault Ms. Willrich,” Castaneda testified during the preliminary hearing. “Mr. Briones explained to us how he punched her, choked her and eventually got on top of her. He continued to punch her, hit her with both open and closed fists because she wouldn’t stop screaming. When she stopped moving, he got up, grabbed (her) checks and left.”

When the victim’s regular pool man showed up the following day, he noticed things askew, including windows with blinds wide open and a hose running, causing an overflow on the east side of the house. He became concerned and attempted to make contact with Willrich, and when he couldn’t, he notified authorities.   

Deputies conducted a welfare check at the home, locating the victim dead inside, exhibiting obvious signs of trauma.   

Detectives soon confirmed that property had been taken, and that one of Willrich’s checks had been deposited at an ATM outside an Albertson’s grocery in Palm Desert, according to sheriff’s officials.

Security surveillance video images were examined, and authorities identified Briones as the person who cashed the check, Castaneda alleged. He said that security videotape from homes around the victim’s property showed that the defendant had parked there, gone inside and returned to his pickup a short time later on Nov. 29.   

Briones was arrested without incident on Dec. 3, 2021, during a traffic stop near Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra drives in Rancho Mirage.   

He has no documented prior felony convictions recorded in Riverside County.

City News Service

MURRIETA, Calif. (KESQ) – Prosecution testimony got underway today in the trial of a 21-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting and trying to kidnap a Thermal girl as she walked home from school.

Christian Daniel Arreola of Coachella was arrested in 2022 following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation into the alleged attack on the teen victim, whose identity was not disclosed.   

Arreola is charged with attempted kidnapping to commit rape, assault with intent to commit mayhem and felony sexual battery.   

The prosecution and defense delivered opening statements Monday at the Southwest Justice Center, and Superior Court Judge Jeff Zimel ordered jurors to return to the Murrieta courthouse Tuesday for the start of testimony.   

Arreola is being held in lieu of $2 million bail at the SmithCorrectional Facility in Banning.  

According to a bail-setting affidavit filed by sheriff’s investigators, on the afternoon of Sept. 6, 2022, the high school student was returning to her house by cutting through a palm tree field north of Airport Boulevard, west of Calhoun Street.   

The girl told detectives that as she walked a path through the field, a 2019 Buick Encore, later confirmed to be Arreola’s, passed her at slow speed, and before reaching the end of the path, made a U-turn and stopped, at which point the defendant got out, ostensibly to “check parts on the car,” the affidavit stated.

The youth walked by at her normal pace, but “seconds later, Christian ran behind her, grabbed and pinched her right breast and grabbed her left shoulder,” according to the narrative.

“She began yelling and twisting in order to get away, causing Christian to wrap his left arm around her upper body and neck and begin to choke her and pull her toward him,” the affidavit said. “She was constantly moving while also screaming, and at one point, Christian moved his forearm over her mouth. She managed to maneuver her head out of his grasp only by slipping downward.”  

The teenager fell, landing on her school backpack, and Arreola allegedly tried to mount her, but she kicked him and swung her water bottle at his face, according to investigators.

“Christian violently grabbed at her breasts and began pulling off her shirt and grabbing her breasts until the shirt was pulled so hard it ripped,” the affidavit stated. “She continued fighting and screaming for him to stop. She realized he was not stealing anything and feared that because his vehicle’s rear door was open, he was attacking her because he was going to take her away … rape her and kill her.”

Arreola abandoned the attempt, pushing against the teen when she tried to get up and throwing her hat and glasses into the field in frustration, then jumping into his car and driving away, investigators alleged.

The victim ran home and called her mother, who in turn summoned deputies.   

A law enforcement Flock license plate camera and recorder placed in the general vicinity captured images of the Buick, enabling detectives to track down the defendant, who was taken into custody four days later without incident at his Heather Lane residence. He was positively identified by the girl, according to sheriff’s officials.   

The affidavit alleged the defendant’s girlfriend informed detectives that he had developed a habit of choking her during sex and had become “depressed (in recent months), his eyes cold and unfeeling.”

“She said he even spoke of suicide,” according to the document. 

Arreola has no documented prior felony convictions.

Jesus Reyes

News Channel 3’s First Alert Chief Meteorologist Patrick Evans was named a Riverside County Volunteer of the Year.

Patrick received an award from District 4 Supervisor Manuel Perez Tuesday during the board of supervisors meeting.

City News Service

RIVERSIDE (CNS) – The Board of Supervisors today extended a moratorium on the issuance of short-term rental certificates in Thousand Palms and the nearby Coachella Valley community of B Bar H Ranch for another 10 months, to give staff time to draft regulations that address problems stemming from house parties and other activities.   

The board originally implemented the temporary moratorium March 11, but that suspension was due to automatically expire on April 25. The board’s 5-0 vote Tuesday to renew the urgency measure runs to Feb. 28, 2026.   

County Transportation & Land Management Agency officials are expected to draw up proposed permanent regulations well before that time, so the interim moratorium could be rescinded anytime and replaced with a formal ordinance, following public hearings.

“We definitely need quite a bit more enforcement in that area,” board Chairman Manuel Perez, whose Fourth District encompasses the Coachella Valley, said ahead of the vote.

Last month, Perez surmised that the upsurge in boisterous parties at vacation rental properties in Thousand Palms and the ranch area resulted from the “very firm” short-term rental restrictions in place throughout Desert Hot Springs, Palm Desert and Palm Springs, all of which border the communities where the moratorium has been applied.   

TLMA officials said there are 68 legally sanctioned short-term rental, or STR, operators in Thousand Palms and B Bar H Ranch, which is a 240-acre space in the Seven Palms Valley northeast of Interstate 10 and southeast of North Palm Springs. Thousand Palms is a few miles farther south, also in close proximity to I-10.  

Since 2022, 35 properties in Thousand Palms have been flagged for hosting short-term guests without an STR permit, while 27 properties have been flagged in B Bar H Ranch. The latter has 37 legal STRs, while Thousand Palms has 31, officials said.

Department of Code Enforcement personnel have issued numerous cease- and-desist orders in both locations over the last three years, administering fines and other penalties to stop ongoing illegal rental operations, according to the agency. Most neighbor complaints connected to code and sheriff’s calls in the area have stemmed from loud parties and roadway obstructions, including lack of parking, during hosted events.   

It was unclear what amplified regulations might be established to address illicit and legal STRs in the two communities.   

“We need teeth because a $500 or $1,000 fine is maybe not enough,” Perez said. “Some of these parties have sponsors. Folks just keep coming in, and the parties continue. When the promoters are making $50,000 on one party, the fines don’t really matter.”

The board implemented a slate of countywide regulations tied to STRs under Ordinance No. 927 in October 2022.   

Those applying for a certificate must be at least 21 years old. The ordinance includes a 500-foot separation requirement, mandating that any newly certificated STRs be at least that distance from the nearest residence.   

The ordinance included “responsible operators” and “responsible guests” at short-term rental properties as being liable for paying penalties in the event a property is determined to be a nuisance because of parties or other disturbances. Previously, only owners could be fined.

The regulatory apparatus implemented testing requirements to confirm that STR operators understand county regulations and are able to comply with them. Regulations focus on occupancy limitations, noise controls, parking designations and other health and safety provisions.

Tighter regulations were established for Idyllwild-Pine Cove and the Temecula Valley Wine Country in November 2023 in response to increasing challenges with enforcement, and to ensure that the “unique character” of the locations wasn’t drastically impacted by rentals.

Short-term rentals are defined as residential dwellings leased for a maximum of 30 days and a minimum of two days and one night.

City News Service

COACHELLA, Calif. (KESQ) – Firefighters knocked down a fire at a single-family residence in Coachella, authorities said today.   

The non-injury structural blaze was first reported at 11:57 p.m. Tuesday in the 53000 block of Calle Bella, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.

An arriving unit reported heavy smoke and fire coming from the roof, which was contained at approximately 12:47 a.m.   

Crews remained at the scene for an additional two hours to perform salvage and overhaul.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.