Crime & Incidents

On January 21, 2021, at 6:00 A.M., deputies assigned to the Coachella Community Action Team (CCAT), with the assistance of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), served a search warrant at a residence in the 43-500 block of Smurr Street in the city of Indio. The search warrant stemmed from an assault incident which occurred on January 19, 2021, in the city of Coachella.

On January 19, 2021, about 7:01 PM, deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Moreno Valley Station, responded to the report of a major injury traffic collision at the intersection of Cottonwood Avenue and Day Street, in the city of Moreno Valley. Deputies arrived on-scene to find a two-vehicle traffic collision involving a gray BMW and a red Nissan, with the BMW’s driver and passenger suffering from moderate to major injuries.

During the course of this investigation, several suspects were involved in this robbery. The suspect who was shot, but survived, was identified as Tong Shun Zhang, 34 years of Rowland Heights. Zhang was arrested and charged with two counts of Murder, Attempted Murder, and Burglary. The Sheriff’s Major Crimes Unit conducted surveillance on several locations in Los Angeles County, and were able to locate one of the suspect vehicles.

The Riverside County Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force (RACHT) continued their human trafficking investigation and identified a third suspect, Ivan Hernandez, 34 of Indio, for his involved in this investigation. On January 18, 2021, Indio Police Department arrested Ivan Hernandez, in the city of Indio for an outstanding arrest warrant for this investigation.

On January 16, 2021, at 9:08 PM, Riverside County Regional Gang Task Force Officers from Region 2 conducted a traffic stop in the 100 block of West Williams Street in the city of Banning. The driver of the vehicle was identified as Jane Chavez, a twenty-nine year old resident of the city of Banning.