In May, the California Department of Justice filed grand theft charges against Gregory Oveross and his bookkeeper, Faranita L. Corvalan, in what could rank among the largest fiduciary thefts in state history. Both have pleaded not guilty and remain free on bail while awaiting trial.

State prosecutors say Oveross deceived both his clients and the probate courts overseeing his work. But court records and other public documents reviewed by CalMatters show that judicial officials and the state’s Professional Fiduciaries Bureau missed repeated warning signs for years before charges were ever filed — underscoring an ongoing pattern of weak oversight of fiduciaries, who are granted sweeping legal authority over the finances and personal lives of people deemed unable to care for themselves.

In one instance, according to prosecutors, Oveross wrote himself 19 checks totaling $670,000 over the course of a year, all drawn from a single client’s accounts. State accounting forms require fiduciaries to list a check number for every expenditure, but Oveross left that column blank. Even so, a judge signed off on the accounting.

“Not having check numbers would be a huge red flag,” said Judge Sandra Bean, who oversees Alameda County’s probate court. “It’s all very practical. If something smells fishy, it probably is.”

California lawmakers tightened accounting requirements for fiduciaries back in 2006, following earlier scandals, mandating that check numbers be included specifically so courts could catch missing or hidden transactions. That safeguard, in this case, appears not to have worked as intended.

In a separate matter, the attorney general’s office alleges Oveross never distributed a $1.7 million inheritance to beneficiaries after being appointed to administer an estate. Court records show no follow-up hearing was ever scheduled to confirm the money had actually been paid out. State law doesn’t require such automatic review hearings, leading to inconsistent practices from county to county — some courts schedule them routinely, while others, including Sacramento, San Joaquin and Santa Clara counties, do not.

During the years Oveross is accused of stealing from clients, Los Angeles County’s courts did not automatically schedule such hearings either. That changed in January 2026, when the court began automatically setting review dates following approval of final distributions, according to court spokesperson Rob Oftring.

Public records also show Oveross failed to disclose, in a required annual filing, a case in which he had been accused of financial misconduct. These annual statements are meant to alert the bureau and the public to problems fiduciaries may have had — but they rely largely on the honesty of the fiduciaries themselves, who sign the forms under penalty of perjury.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law in 2021 that would have required courts to notify the bureau whenever judges sanctioned a fiduciary for abusing their license. But that requirement only takes effect once state lawmakers allocate funding for it — and they never have.

In both 2022 and 2023, Oveross submitted annual statements to the bureau that left blank the question asking whether any complaints against him had been resolved, records show. Despite the incomplete filings, the bureau renewed his license each year. The bureau declined to answer questions about Oveross, citing the pending criminal case.

The Professional Fiduciaries Bureau was established two decades ago to protect consumers after journalists exposed widespread failures by judges to catch abuse and conflicts of interest among fiduciaries. Yet CalMatters’ reporting this year has found many of the same gaps persist.

The bureau says it depends on the courts to monitor fiduciaries’ conduct, while the courts often lean on the bureau for oversight — creating a loop of shared responsibility with little real accountability.

Oftring said an attorney reviews fiduciary accountings to confirm “all required information and supporting documentation is provided, that financial activity is clearly explained, and that the accounting is accurate and balanced.” Asked why the court approved Oveross’ accounting despite the missing check numbers, he said judges and court staff are barred from commenting publicly on pending or anticipated court proceedings.

In the arrest declaration, the attorney general’s office described what it called a “systemic and widespread pattern of misappropriation of assets, discrepancies, unauthorized diversion of funds, and noncompliance with probate court mandates.”

Attorneys for Oveross and Corvalan did not respond to requests for comment.

Oveross kept his license for years while under investigation

Jean C. Elbert suffered from dementia. Her extended family lived far away, and her closest living relative — her brother — was battling Alzheimer’s disease. Elbert’s family asked the court to appoint someone to oversee her care and finances. In August 2018, the court appointed Oveross, an experienced fiduciary, to the role.

Oveross managed Elbert’s conservatorship for roughly a year. During that time, prosecutors allege, he wrote himself 19 checks and omitted every one of them from the financial report he filed with the court.

After Elbert died in August 2019, Oveross told the court he had $1.8 million on hand to distribute to her heirs, and the court ordered him to disburse the funds.

According to court records and the state’s complaint, Oveross never sent the $764,000 owed to Elbert’s brother. The brother’s son eventually sued to recover his father’s share of the inheritance. His attorney discovered that Oveross had drained money from both the conservatorship and the estate, court filings show, and had used funds from other clients’ accounts to eventually pay out Elbert’s brother.

The two sides reached a settlement in May 2024. But state records show Oveross failed to disclose that settlement in his 2025 annual statement, despite being required to do so.

All told, prosecutors allege Oveross made $1.3 million in unauthorized withdrawals from Elbert’s accounts.

In a separate case, Oveross oversaw the $2 million estate of Guadalupe Rodriguez Diaz following her death in 2019. After paying outstanding bills, Oveross told the court that $1.6 million remained for her beneficiaries.

Prosecutors say Oveross then opened a secondary set of accounts and made unauthorized transfers to himself, to Corvalan, and to another trust he managed. Court documents indicate he spent nearly the entire estate on himself and his associates. According to prosecutors, Diaz’s heirs never received a single dollar from those accounts.

“Notably, no transactions related to inheritance distribution were observed in these accounts,” prosecutors wrote in court filings.

Court records show the criminal case began after Elbert’s nephew and another Oveross client filed complaints with the bureau in 2023. Shortly afterward, a bureau investigator referred the matter to the California Department of Justice.

Even as the criminal investigation moved forward, Oveross was allowed to continue working under a valid fiduciary license for more than two years. His license was finally suspended less than two weeks after his arrest. In the order barring him from practicing, the bureau demanded a complete list of every case in which he was serving as a fiduciary — information the agency should have already had, since fiduciaries are required to accurately report such details every year in their annual statements.

Original source: CalMatters

The post State Says Man Bilked California Seniors Out of Millions — Courts Missed Warning Signs for Years appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Gregory Oveross, a longtime Los Angeles-area fiduciary, and his accountant, Faranita L. Corvalan, were charged with grand theft in May in what prosecutors call one of the largest fiduciary theft cases in California history. Both have pleaded not guilty and remain free on bond while awaiting trial.

But a review of court files and other public records shows the warning signs were there well before charges were filed — and that neither the courts nor the state agency responsible for licensing fiduciaries caught them in time. The case adds to a growing body of evidence, examined in an ongoing investigation into California’s probate courts, that oversight of fiduciaries — professionals entrusted with managing the money and daily lives of people who cannot care for themselves — remains dangerously thin.

In one instance cited by prosecutors, Oveross wrote himself 19 checks totaling $670,000 over a single year, drawing from one client’s accounts. State accounting forms require fiduciaries to list check numbers for every transaction, but Oveross left that section blank. The court accepted the filing anyway — Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Deborah L. Christian signed off on the accounting without flagging the omission.

“Not having check numbers would be a big red flag,” said Judge Sandra Bean, who oversees probate matters in Alameda County. “It’s all very practical. If something smells bad, it probably is.”

The check-number requirement dates back to 2006, when state lawmakers responded to earlier fiduciary scandals by mandating more detailed financial reporting, specifically so courts could catch missing or suspicious transactions. In the Oveross case, that safeguard appears to have failed.

In a separate matter, the Attorney General’s Office alleges Oveross never paid out a $1.7 million inheritance to beneficiaries after being appointed to administer a deceased client’s estate. Court records show no follow-up hearing was ever scheduled to confirm the money had actually reached the heirs.

That gap is partly a matter of inconsistent rules. State law does not require probate courts to automatically schedule a review after ordering a final distribution of assets. Some counties do so as standard practice; others, including Sacramento, San Joaquin and Santa Clara, do not. During the period when Oveross’s alleged thefts occurred, Los Angeles County courts did not automatically calendar such hearings either. That changed this past January, when the court began scheduling follow-up reviews after approving final distributions, according to court spokesperson Rob Oftring.

Records also show Oveross failed to disclose a pending misconduct complaint on his annual statement to the state’s Professional Fiduciaries Bureau — a filing that relies largely on self-reporting and is submitted under penalty of perjury. In both 2022 and 2023, Oveross left blank a question asking whether he had settled any complaints against him, yet the bureau renewed his license each year regardless.

A 2021 law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom was supposed to close some of these gaps by requiring courts to notify the bureau whenever a judge sanctioned a fiduciary for licensing violations. But that provision never took effect because the Legislature never allocated funding for it.

The Professional Fiduciaries Bureau declined to answer questions about Oveross specifically, citing the ongoing criminal case. More broadly, the bureau has said it relies on the courts to catch misconduct, while the courts often say they rely on the bureau — a circular arrangement that leaves few checks in place.

The bureau itself was created two decades ago in the wake of a news investigation that revealed judges were failing to stop fiduciary abuse and conflicts of interest. Yet the same patterns identified back then appear to be resurfacing.

Oftring said an attorney reviews every fiduciary accounting filed with the court to verify that required documentation is included, that financial activity is properly explained, and that the numbers balance. Asked why the court approved Oveross’s incomplete accounting despite the missing check numbers, Oftring said judges and staff are barred from commenting on pending legal matters.

In its arrest declaration, the Attorney General’s Office described what it called a “systematic and pervasive pattern of asset misappropriation, discrepancies, unauthorized fund diversions and non-compliance with probate court mandates.” Attorneys representing Oveross and Corvalan did not respond to requests for comment.

A LICENSE THAT STAYED ACTIVE

Jean C. Elbert suffered from dementia, and with her closest living relative also battling Alzheimer’s, her family turned to the probate court for help. In August 2018, the court appointed Oveross — by then an established fiduciary — to manage her care and finances.

Over the following year, according to prosecutors, Oveross wrote himself the 19 checks totaling $670,000 from Elbert’s accounts without disclosing them in his official accounting. After Elbert died in August 2019, Oveross reported to the court that he had $1.8 million remaining to distribute to her heirs, and the court ordered him to do so.

But prosecutors say Oveross withheld $764,000 owed to Elbert’s brother. It wasn’t until the brother’s son sued to recover his father’s share of the inheritance that an attorney uncovered what had happened — Oveross, according to court filings, had drained money from the conservatorship and later used funds belonging to other clients to eventually make good on the inheritance payment.

The two sides reached a settlement in May 2024. Yet state records show Oveross never disclosed that settlement in his 2025 annual statement to the bureau, despite being required to do so. In total, prosecutors say Oveross diverted $1.3 million in unauthorized payments from Elbert’s accounts.

A similar pattern emerged in the estate of Guadalupe Rodriguez Diaz, who died in 2019 leaving behind roughly $2 million. After settling her debts, Oveross told the court that $1.6 million remained for her beneficiaries. Prosecutors allege he then opened a secondary set of accounts and funneled money to himself, to Corvalan, and to another trust under his control — ultimately spending nearly the entire estate on himself and his associates. Diaz’s heirs, according to prosecutors, never received any of the money owed to them.

“Notably, no transactions related to heir distributions were observed within these accounts,” prosecutors wrote in court filings.

The criminal investigation began after Elbert’s nephew and another of Oveross’s clients filed complaints with the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau in 2023. A bureau investigator soon referred the matter to the California Department of Justice.

Despite that referral, Oveross continued working as a licensed fiduciary for more than two years while the investigation unfolded. His license was finally suspended less than two weeks after his arrest — and only then did the bureau demand a complete accounting of every case in which he was serving as a fiduciary, information he was supposed to have reported accurately all along.

Original source: CalMatters

The post Courts Missed Years of Warning Signs Before California Man’s Alleged Multimillion-Dollar Scheme Against Seniors, State Says appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Nicole Dragoo, a Fair Oaks resident, previously served as licensing chief at the state agency responsible for regulating private postsecondary schools in California. Her appointment to lead the fiduciaries bureau still requires confirmation by the state Senate. According to the governor’s office, Dragoo will earn an annual salary of $118,824.

Carole Herman, a longtime advocate for elderly Californians who was involved in the bureau’s creation, said she was relieved to see the position finally filled.

“It’s about time,” Herman said. “I hope she does better than everybody in the past, which doesn’t take much for her to do.”

The bureau was established roughly 20 years ago in response to a Los Angeles Times investigation that revealed local courts were failing to catch fiduciary abuse. State lawmakers subsequently gave the bureau authority to license professional fiduciaries — individuals appointed to manage the finances and care of vulnerable clients — and to enforce ethical standards within the profession.

But a CalMatters investigation published earlier this year found that the bureau has repeatedly failed to intervene in cases involving clear conflicts of interest banned under its own code of conduct, as well as instances of egregious misconduct by licensed fiduciaries. Families across California told reporters they had exhausted themselves filing complaints with the agency, only to see little or no action taken.

Part of the problem, according to the investigation, is that the bureau largely relies on fiduciaries to self-report wrongdoing. As a result, some of the information the agency keeps on file about those it licenses is outdated or incomplete. CalMatters also found that the bureau shares far less information with the public than it once did, after successfully lobbying the Legislature to narrow its public records obligations.

The investigation detailed several troubling cases. In Ventura County, fiduciary Angelique Friend was found to have funneled $2.7 million belonging to a client into companies owned by her husband over a period of years, according to court records. That arrangement appeared to violate the bureau’s own ethical guidelines, which explicitly bar both actual and apparent conflicts of interest. Yet there is no indication the bureau took action despite receiving complaints. A bureau spokesperson told CalMatters the agency depends on probate judges to catch and address such conflicts.

In Los Angeles, a man who goes by the single name Vinyasi filed his first complaint against fiduciary Donna Bogdanovich back in 2019. It would be years before any consequences followed. Bogdanovich eventually pleaded no contest to charges that she stole more than $160,000 from Vinyasi and over $1 million combined from other clients, court records show. Her license wasn’t revoked until 2024, despite the bureau having received complaints against her for years prior.

The bureau had operated without a permanent director since August 2024. Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for Newsom’s office, had said earlier this year that the administration was actively working to fill the post.

Original source: CalMatters

The post Newsom Names New Director to Lead Consumer Agency After Two-Year Vacancy appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Assemblymember Anamarie Ávila Farías pursued the conservatorship effort before she was elected to represent her district, according to a CalMatters investigation that examined court files from Contra Costa County. The records paint a troubling picture: before rising to the state Capitol, Ávila Farías was hit with a temporary restraining order after allegedly striking her mother, AnaMaria Ávila Bugarin, amid the property dispute.

Ávila Bugarin, now 76, ultimately spent tens of thousands of dollars to defend her own competency. Court records describe her arriving at a final evaluation with a neuropsychologist dressed carefully and composed, though she broke down while recounting how the family conflict had unraveled her relationship with her daughter and put her basic autonomy on trial.

The evidence did not support the conservatorship claim. Two medical doctors and a neuropsychologist all concluded that Ávila Bugarin did not have dementia — a finding echoed by her other children. Despite that, the case did not resolve until Ávila Bugarin agreed to sign over disputed real estate as part of a settlement, at which point her daughter dropped the conservatorship bid.

Melissa Brown, an elder-law professor emeritus at the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law, reviewed the case for CalMatters and said the situation has the hallmarks of the conservatorship process being turned into a tool for personal leverage rather than genuine caretaking.

The investigation also found that Ávila Farías and her husband have filed for personal and business bankruptcy three separate times since 2011. Additionally, reporters found inconsistencies between how she described the disputed property to the courts and how she reported it to the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission.

Roger Salazar, a spokesperson for Ávila Farías, pushed back on the characterization of the case, saying in a written statement that no court ever found the assemblymember engaged in wrongdoing. He noted that conservatorship cases in California routinely stem from complicated family circumstances.

Ávila Farías currently serves on the Assembly committee overseeing aging and long-term care issues — the same policy area that governs how conservatorships are handled statewide.

In other Sacramento news, California’s major utility companies are pushing a last-minute package of wildfire-related bills under the banner “Wildfire Survivors First,” a label that has infuriated actual survivors who say the companies bear responsibility for past blazes. Critics, including consumer advocates, argue the legislation would cap compensation for fire victims, strip insurers of their ability to recoup wildfire costs from utilities, and limit attorney fees in ways that could make it harder for survivors to find legal representation.

San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric have collectively donated more than $1.2 million to state lawmakers during the current legislative session, according to CalMatters campaign finance data. Insurance industry groups have also come out against the bills, warning that premiums could rise if insurers can no longer recover wildfire-related costs from utility companies.

The debate comes as fire season intensifies across the state. Over the weekend, the Dove Fire near Sonora forced hundreds of households to evacuate, underscoring the urgency of the policy fight in Sacramento.

Meanwhile, CalMatters has begun rolling out its 2026 general election voter guide, offering updated details on statewide races, ballot propositions and campaign contributions ahead of November. The guide includes new interactive features, including quizzes designed to help voters compare candidates running for insurance commissioner and better understand a set of competing tax-related ballot measures. Additional updates are expected in the coming weeks.

Original source: CalMatters

The post Lawmaker’s Attempt to Place Mother Under Conservatorship Sparks Family and Legal Battle appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

The case involves Assemblymember Anamarie Ávila Farías, who represents a district in the East Bay and now serves on the Assembly’s Aging and Long-Term Care Committee, a panel charged with safeguarding older Californians. Court files reviewed as part of an ongoing examination of the state’s conservatorship system show that Ávila Farías once sought to have her mother, AnaMaria Ávila Bugarin, placed under a conservatorship — and briefly faced a restraining order herself after her mother accused her of elder abuse.

The dispute, which played out in Contra Costa County Superior Court, centered on three properties the family once shared: a home purchased jointly with Ávila Farías’ mother and sister, the lawmaker’s own residence, and a separate rental property. In 2008, Ávila Farías and her husband transferred ownership of all three properties to her mother. Ávila Bugarin later told the court she had no idea two of those properties had been placed in her name — though her daughter maintained she had been informed.

Months after the transfer, the couple took out a $2.3 million business loan, which they defaulted on roughly a year and a half later. Their real estate company filed for bankruptcy in 2011, part of a pattern — the couple and their business have filed for bankruptcy three times since then, records show.

Years later, Ávila Bugarin said she discovered her daughter had fallen behind on mortgage payments tied to the family home and had also taken out loans against the property. Ávila Bugarin, who has limited English proficiency, said she believed she was signing paperwork to refinance the home rather than borrow against it. When she refused to sign the other two properties back over to her daughter — insisting she first wanted the family home returned — tensions escalated.

In February 2018, according to court filings, Ávila Farías went to her mother’s apartment and, during an argument, grabbed a phone from her hand and struck her wrist. Ávila Bugarin sought a temporary restraining order for herself and another daughter, Judith Ávila, who lived with her; a judge granted it, and it remained in place for about a year. Ávila Farías disputed the account, telling the court it was her mother who had slapped her. A third sister, RoseMarie Griffin, backed Ávila Farías, telling the court she had never witnessed behavior that would justify a restraining order.

After mediation failed, Ávila Bugarin moved to evict her daughter from the property now in her name. In response, Ávila Farías petitioned the probate court to place both her mother and sister under conservatorship, arguing her mother showed signs of “delusional and severely disorganized thinking” and citing an incident years earlier in which her mother had been the victim of a scam, along with an unrelated episode involving trespassers on her property.

A judge granted a temporary conservatorship over both women and ordered a psychological evaluation of Ávila Bugarin. But the results undercut the petition entirely. Two physicians, a neuropsychologist and even the court-appointed fiduciary — who had been recommended by Ávila Farías herself — all concluded that Ávila Bugarin showed no signs of cognitive impairment and was fully capable of managing her own affairs. Dr. Eric Freitag, the neuropsychologist who examined her, told the court she did not present “any form of significant cognitive deficits” that would limit her ability to make her own decisions. Experts reached similar conclusions regarding Judith Ávila.

Despite those findings, Ávila Farías did not withdraw the conservatorship petitions. About a year later, the case was resolved through a settlement: Ávila Bugarin agreed to transfer ownership of the two disputed properties — valued at roughly $1.8 million — back to her daughter, the two women agreed to sell the home they jointly owned, and Ávila Bugarin dropped her request for a restraining order. In exchange, Ávila Farías agreed to end her attempt to have her mother and sister placed under conservatorship.

The story didn’t end there. Five months after the settlement, with the family home still unlisted, a judge appointed a receiver to handle its sale over Ávila Farías’ objection. Three months after that, she filed for personal bankruptcy. The house eventually sold in November 2020, with proceeds used to cover more than $186,000 in legal fees and other costs tied to the conservatorship dispute. Ávila Farías also gave her mother $116,000 from the sale under the terms of the agreement.

The case has raised questions beyond the family dispute itself. In court filings, Ávila Farías stated that her mother had not financially contributed to the properties in two decades, writing that she alone had been “financially responsible for all asset liability” with “no financial contributions from Mom.” Yet several years earlier, in a 2014 letter to the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission, she offered a different account, stating that her mother had provided the down payment for one of the properties and had made loan payments on it ever since, calling her mother “the sole owner of the property.” That letter was submitted in response to a local resident’s request that she recuse herself from a Martinez City Council vote on a resolution that could have affected her property value. The commission found no conflict of interest, and Ávila Farías voted on the measure. At the time, she pushed back sharply against the resident’s request, telling the council she held herself to “a high moral standard” and didn’t need outside oversight of her conduct.

The Fair Political Practices Commission separately investigated complaints in 2024 that Ávila Farías had failed to disclose economic interests on annual financial disclosure forms for several years. That investigation was closed in 2025 after she amended her filings, disclosed the interests in question and completed a commission training course.

Melissa Brown, professor emeritus of elder law at the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law, reviewed the case details and described the conservatorship petition as an apparent “weaponization of the process” — a tool meant to protect vulnerable adults instead being used amid a family property dispute.

Ávila Farías declined to discuss specifics of the case, citing a confidentiality agreement tied to the settlement, but said she intends to introduce legislation related to conservatorship reform, “hopefully next year,” though she did not offer details. Her spokesperson, Roger Salazar, said in a statement that “there has never been a judicial finding that Anamarie Farías engaged in any wrongdoing,” adding that conservatorship cases “commonly involve complex family dynamics.” Salazar also noted that Ávila Farías has since been appointed conservator for another family member, which he said reflects the court’s determination that she meets the legal standards required to serve in that role.

Other family members involved in the dispute either declined to comment, citing the same confidentiality agreement, or did not respond to requests for comment.

A spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas said the speaker was unaware of the restraining order or conservatorship petition when he appointed Ávila Farías to the Aging and Long-Term Care Committee.

Before entering state politics, Ávila Farías served on the Martinez City Council and the Contra Costa County Board of Education, and sat on the board of the California Housing Finance Agency from 2015 to 2024 — a period that overlapped with much of the family’s legal battles. She was elected to the Assembly in 2024 with an endorsement from Gov. Gavin Newsom and is now seeking a second term. She recently introduced legislation that would bar certain former U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees from working as police officers or teachers in California; a scaled-back version of that bill has cleared the Assembly and is now before the state Senate.

Original source: CalMatters

The post Lawmaker Claimed Mother Had Dementia in Property Dispute, but Doctors Disagreed, Court Told appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

File # LA231010001

Details:

On April 11, 2023, at 12:37 AM, Thermal Station patrol deputies responded to the 47700 block of Dune Palms Road in the city of La Quinta, reference a carjacking of a 75-year-old female. The investigation revealed the victim was in the area when she was approached by two Hispanic male subjects. One was armed with a semi-automatic firearm, who demanded her vehicle and purse. The suspects fled in the victim’s black Camaro, followed by a white Lincoln sedan. The victim was not injured during the carjacking. The vehicles fled westbound on Highway 111. The investigation was assumed by the Thermal Station Special Investigations Unit.

While canvassing the area of Highway 111, Palm Desert Station patrol deputies spotted the vehicles turning northbound on Village Court, in the city of Indian Wells. The deputies attempted to stop the vehicles in the 44600 block of Village Court. The Camaro failed to yield and fled westbound on Highway 111, the Lincoln rammed a Sheriff’s patrol unit, disabling both vehicles. The suspects fled into the nearby residential area. A perimeter was quickly set by both Palm Desert Station and Thermal Station patrol units. The Riverside County Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) responded and conducted a yard-to-yard search of the residential area.

At 7:04 AM, SEB personnel located the suspects in the 74900 block of Verbena, in the city of Palm Desert. They were taken into custody without incident. They were identified as David Reyes, 18-year-old male of Palm Desert, and Daryl Urbano, 18-year-old male of Coachella. The victim’s Camaro was located in the 69100 block of Dinah Shore, in Cathedral City, unoccupied.

The Thermal Station Special Investigation’s Unit continued the investigation and identified the outstanding suspects as a 16-year-old Hispanic male of Cathedral City and a 16-year-old Hispanic male of Thousand Palms, who were later arrested in Palm Desert after another carjacking.

The Thermal Station Investigations Special Investigations Unit is asking anyone with additional information to contact Investigator Glasper at the Thermal Sheriff’s Station by calling (760) 863-8950. If you wish to remain anonymous, call Valley Crimestoppers at (760) 341-7867. 

For media inquiries regarding this incident please contact the Media Information Bureau.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Carjacking/Assault with a Deadly Weapon/Elder Abuse Arrest appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

File # C230940002

Details: 

On April 4, 2023, at 1:50 AM, Thermal Station patrol deputies responded to the 84200 block of Indio Springs Parkway in the unincorporated county area of Indio, reference a robbery of a 69-year-old male. The investigation revealed the victim was in the area, when he was assaulted and robbed by a white male adult and a white female adult. During the robbery, the victim was punched and tased and his personal belongings were taken. The victim sustained minor injuries. The victim declined medical treatment and was released from the scene. The investigation was assumed by the Thermal Station Special Investigations Unit.

The suspects were identified as Brooke Prentiss, a 36-year-old female of Sonora, and Morgan Styre, a 27-year-old male of Sonora. On April 8, 2023, the suspects’ vehicle was located by the Imperial County Sheriff’s Department, in the city of Holtville. Brooke Prentiss and Morgan Styre were taken into custody without incident.

The Thermal Station Special Investigations Unit responded to Holtville and took possession of Brooke Prentiss and Morgan Styre. The victim’s property was located and recovered in the suspect’s vehicle.

Brooke Prentiss was booked at the John Benoit Detention Center, in the city of Indio, for robbery and physical elder abuse. Morgan Styre was booked at the John Benoit Detention Center, in the city of Indio, for robbery, physical elder abuse and Violation of Parole.

The Thermal Station Investigations Special Investigations Unit is asking anyone with additional information to contact Corporal McTigue at the Thermal Sheriff’s Station by calling (760) 863–2813. If you wish to remain anonymous, call Valley Crimestoppers at (760) 341–7867.

For media inquiries regarding this incident please contact the Media Information Bureau.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Robbery / Elder Abuse Arrest appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

File # LA230510023

Details:

On February 20, 2023, at 11:39 AM, Thermal Station patrol deputies responded to the 79700 block of Highway 111 in the city of La Quinta regarding the robbery of an 87-year-old female victim. The investigation revealed the victim was sitting in her vehicle waiting for her husband to exit the store when a Romanian female approached her vehicle, opened her door, and removed her ring and necklace. There was a brief struggle during the robbery, and the victim sustained minor injuries. The victim declined medical treatment and was released at the scene. The Thermal Station Special Investigations Unit assumed the investigation.

The suspect vehicle was later located by the Murrieta Police Department in the city of Murrieta. The suspects, a 38-year-old Romanian female and a 39-year-old Romanian male, were taken into custody without incident. The Thermal Station Special Investigations Unit responded to Murrieta and took possession of the suspects. A search warrant was authored for the vehicle and served. The victim’s jewelry was located and recovered. The suspects were booked at the John Benoit Detention Center, in the city of Indio, for robbery and elder abuse.

The Thermal Station Investigations Special Investigations Unit asks anyone with additional information to contact Investigator Glasper at the Thermal Sheriff’s Station by calling (760) 863-8950.

If you wish to remain anonymous, call Valley Crimestoppers at (760) 341-7867.

For media inquiries regarding this incident please contact the Media Information Bureau.

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

The post Robbery/Elder Abuse Arrest appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.