Although officials did not specify the event by name, the timing of the arrest aligns with the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, commonly known as Jazz Fest, which runs from Thursday through May 3 and typically attracts around 460,000 attendees. Federal authorities had alerted the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in Florida that Gillum was headed to Louisiana to carry out the attack at the festival. However, the specific federal agency involved has not been disclosed, and the FBI in New Orleans has not yet commented on the case.

    Gillum was arrested without incident on Wednesday night. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office posted a photo of him being taken away in handcuffs. Authorities seized a handgun and approximately 200 rounds of ammunition from his hotel room during the arrest. He was charged as a fugitive from justice and is set to be extradited to Louisiana, though it is unclear whether he has legal representation. The Associated Press attempted to contact him via listed phone numbers but did not receive a response.

    Gillum had been reported missing by his family on Tuesday, and it was later revealed that he had a history of self-harm. According to Lt. Clint Lyons of the Alamance County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina, Gillum’s family informed law enforcement that he had expressed threats to harm Black people. They also reported that he had a firearm. The Burlington Police Department in North Carolina issued a bulletin about Gillum’s whereabouts. Despite his concerning statements, law enforcement did not have the legal grounds to detain him, as there were no victims involved at the time. Lyons confirmed that, due to a lack of criminal evidence, they were unable to initiate an involuntary psychiatric commitment.

    Gillum crossed state lines before the paperwork for his involuntary commitment could be completed, and his whereabouts were not known to local law enforcement until Wednesday. Officers had been asked to perform a welfare check, but initially, there was no indication of any specific threats. However, after learning of the investigation, Okaloosa County deputies began surveilling Gillum and eventually arrested him once a warrant was issued by Louisiana authorities.

    Gillum had been employed as a detention officer with the Orange County, North Carolina Sheriff’s Office beginning in October 2023 but resigned in July 2024. He was rehired as a deputy in January 2025 but resigned again in September 2025. Additionally, Gillum had served as a sworn officer with the Chapel Hill Police Department from 2004 until his resignation in 2019. He briefly returned to work as a non-sworn employee in 2024 but left by the end of the year.

    As of now, Louisiana State Police, along with the FBI, are continuing their investigation into the incident. Louisiana State Police spokesperson Trooper Danny Berrincha confirmed that no direct threats to any festivals in Louisiana have been identified.

    In response to the incident, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival issued a statement expressing their collaboration with law enforcement and commended their efforts in ensuring the safety of the event. The statement concluded by emphasizing their commitment to hosting a safe and joyful festival for all attendees.

The post Former NC Law Enforcement Officer Arrested for Alleged Plot to Target Black Attendees at New Orleans Festival appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

    The race — a 120-mile, multi-leg relay stretching from the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas — is expected to draw more than 3,000 participants from agencies across California, other states and federal departments. This year, 276 teams are signed up, including a strong showing from the Inland Empire.

    Local departments set to participate include Banning, Corona, Hemet, Menifee, Murrieta and Riverside police, along with personnel from several Riverside County Sheriff’s divisions, the District Attorney’s Office and the Department of Probation. According to race information posted at bakervegas.net, roughly a dozen teams from Riverside County are on the roster.

    For some agencies, the race has become a yearly tradition. Menifee Police, for example, have consistently taken part and train throughout the year to prepare for the physical and mental demands of the course. The department even shared highlights from last year’s race, capturing the intensity and camaraderie of the event.

    Corona Police also confirmed its team will be competing in the 2026 relay, continuing its involvement in one of the most recognized law enforcement races in the country.

    The 20-leg course begins around 7 a.m. Saturday along State Route 127, about 24 miles north of Baker. From there, runners rotate through segments that wind across desert highways, including Highway 178, before crossing into Nevada through Pahrump. The final legs push into Las Vegas, finishing near the Rio Hotel & Casino.

    The event is organized by the Los Angeles Police Revolver and Athletic Club, which describes the race as a test of endurance, teamwork and resilience. Participants face long miles of open road, shifting temperatures and the challenge of running both in daylight heat and overnight conditions.

    “It feels like a lot of pressure — you want to give it everything you’ve got,” Officer Heriberto Gutierrez said ahead of last year’s race, where he ran the final leg. “We train all year for this. It’s always on our minds.”

    Forecasts for Saturday show relatively mild conditions early on, with temperatures in the mid-50s at the start. By afternoon, desert heat is expected to climb into the upper 80s, while Las Vegas could see highs around 95 degrees before cooling into the evening — when many teams are likely to cross the finish line.

    Teams will start in staggered groups, known as flights, with faster teams typically leaving later in the day.

    Since its start in 1985, the Baker to Vegas relay has grown into a cornerstone event for law enforcement agencies nationwide. The race was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 but has otherwise continued each year.

    Last year’s top team, a California Highway Patrol elite unit, completed the course in 12 hours, 31 minutes and 55 seconds. Riverside County’s fastest team — from the Sheriff’s Office — finished in the top 10 with a time of 14:31:38, the best showing locally.

    This year’s competition will again include teams traveling from across the country, including Oklahoma, Texas, New York and the Navajo Nation Department of Public Safety.

    For those taking part, the race is about more than the finish time. It’s a demanding test of endurance and teamwork — one that continues to bring agencies together year after year.

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ICE officers were conducting a vehicle stop around 6:30 a.m. at the 2800 block of Vineyard Ave in Ontario, according to Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security. During the stop, an unknown person who was not the target pulled a vehicle in front of the officers, she said.

Officers ordered the driver to leave, McLaughlin said, but as the driver began to pull away “the car stopped and attempted to run officers over by reversing directly at them without stopping.”

“An ICE officer, fearing for his life, fired defensive shots at the vehicle,” McLaughlin said. “The subject fled the scene and abandoned his vehicle.”

McLaughlin called it “another example of the threats our ICE officers are facing day-in and day-out as they risk their lives to enforce the law and arrest criminals.”

Immigration agents have been increasingly involved in aggressive confrontations with suspects and protesters.

Last week, ICE officers fired at a man in South Los Angeles who was in a vehicle after agents boxed his car in. The man, Carlitos Ricardo Parias, was shot in the elbow, and a deputy marshal was hit by what authorities said was a ricocheted bullet. They accused Parias of trying to ram agents’ cars.

On Wednesday, a man was hospitalized after a shooting in Phoenix involving an ICE agent. According to local media reports, ICE officers conducted a traffic stop, but the driver began speeding away and an officer in the vehicle’s path feared for his life and fired his weapon.

In September and October, there were two shootings, by ICE and Border Patrol, into vehicles in Chicago, one fatal. And in August, federal agents shot into a car in San Bernardino during an immigration stop.

In a news release, the Ontario Police Department said it responded to a request for emergency assistance from DHS officers regarding an officer-involved shooting.

Police officers were not involved in the initial incident, according to the release. Several officers then responded to the scene to provide traffic control and security while DHS conducted its investigation.

DHS and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are investigating the incident, police said.

The post Federal authorities investigating second ICE shooting in California in a little more than week appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Patel’s nomination advanced in a 51-47 party-line vote, putting him on track for confirmation in the Republican-controlled Senate in the afternoon.

To deny him the job, more than three Republicans would have to defy Trump and vote “no,” which is seen as unlikely even though Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, announced her opposition. So far, Trump has already secured approval for most of his nominees despite initial Republican skepticism to several of his choices.

Patel, a Trump loyalist who has fiercely criticized the agency that he is poised to lead, would inherit an FBI gripped by turmoil. The Justice Department in the last month has forced out a group of senior FBI officials and made a highly unusual demand for the names of thousands of agents who participated in investigations related to the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump has said that he expects some of those agents will be fired. Patel told senators at his confirmation hearing last month that he was unaware of any discussions about firing agents. But the committee’s top Democrat, Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, released a letter last week citing information he said had come from inside sources that he said suggested Patel had been covertly involved in the process.

Republicans angry over what they see as law enforcement bias against conservatives during the Biden administration, as well as criminal investigations into Trump, have rallied behind Patel.

“Mr. Patel wants to make the FBI accountable once again -– get back the reputation that the FBI has had historically for law enforcement,” Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told colleagues on Wednesday. “He wants to hold the FBI accountable to Congress, to the president and, most importantly, to the people they serve — the American taxpayer.”

Democrats have complained about Patel’s lack of management experience compared with others who have held the director’s job and they have highlighted incendiary past statements that they say call his judgment into question.

“My prediction is if you vote for Kash Patel, more than any other confirmation vote you make, you will come to regret this one to your grave,” Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said this week.

A half-dozen Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee gathered outside FBI headquarters before the vote to speak out against Patel and make a last-ditch plea to derail his confirmation.

“This is someone we cannot trust,” said Sen. Adam Schiff of California. “This is someone who lacks the character to do this job, someone who lacks the integrity to do this job. We know that, our Republican colleagues know that.”

He added: “The only qualification Kash Patel has to be FBI director is that when everyone else in the first Trump administration said, ‘No, I won’t do that, that crosses moral, ethical and legal lines,’ Kash Patel said, ‘Sign me up.’”

Patel’s eyebrow-raising remarks on hundreds of podcasts over the past four years include referring to law enforcement officials who investigated Trump as “criminal gangsters,” saying some Jan. 6 rioters were “political prisoners” and pledging to “come after” anti-Trump “conspirators” in the government and media.

At his Senate hearing in January, Patel said Democrats were taking some of his comments out of context or misunderstanding the broader point that he was trying to make, such as when he proposed shutting down the FBI headquarters in Washington and turning it into a museum for the so-called deep state. Patel denied the idea that a list in his book of government officials who he said were part of a “deep state” amounted to an “enemies list,” calling that a “total mischaracterization.”

FBI directors are given 10-year terms as a way to insulate them from political influence and keep them from becoming beholden to a particular president or administration. Patel was selected in November to replace Christopher Wray, who was picked by Trump in 2017 and served for more than seven years but who repeatedly angered the president and was seen by him as insufficiently loyal. He resigned before Trump took office.

A former federal defender and Justice Department counterterrorism prosecutor, Patel attracted Trump’s attention during his first term when, as a staffer on the Republican-led House Intelligence Committee, he helped author a memo with pointed criticism of the FBI’s investigation into ties between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign.

Patel later joined Trump’s administration, both as a counterterrorism official at the National Security Council and as chief of staff to the defense secretary.

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John Matthew Piecuch, 64, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge John W. Holcomb, who scheduled a restitution hearing for May 1.

The investigation unraveled after Piecuch met the 12-year-old Maryland girl on Roblox, an online gaming platform. Piecuch told the victim he was a 13-year-old boy, according to federal prosecutors.

In January 2021, Piecuch and the girl texted each other, during which time he persuaded her to send him sexually explicit images of herself. Piecuch also persuaded the child to take and send him sexually explicit photographs of her 5-year-old female relative, prosecutors said.

The pre-teen’s mother saw some of the text messages on her daughter’s mobile device, which prompted the woman to contact law enforcement, according to court documents.

The Carroll County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland assisted the FBI in the investigation of Piecuch.

“I’m very proud of my deputies for pursuing this case in conjunction with the FBI,” Carroll County Sheriff Jim DeWees said at the time of the 2021 indictment. “Parents beware and always be proactive with your child’s social media presence.”

Piecuch pleaded guilty in July 2024 to one count of production of child pornography. He has been in federal custody since August 2021, prosecutors said.

“Online games and platforms can allow child predators to hide behind fake identities and lure children into sharing private information,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph McNally. “It is critical that we hold these predators accountable and convey a message of zero tolerance for those who prey on our youth. I also urge parents everywhere to monitor their children’s online activity to ensure their health and safety.”

Once Piecuch completes his 188-month prison sentence, he will remain on supervised release for the rest of his life, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sonah Lee of the Riverside Branch Office prosecuted the case.

The post After Catfishing Pre-Teen Girl, Hemet Man Sentenced To Nearly 16 Years appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Marvin Alberto Ulloa was arrested Jan. 28 following a weeks-long Murrieta Police Department investigation.

Ulloa is charged with lewd acts on a minor and two counts of forced oral copulation of a child under 10 years old.

He pleaded not guilty last week during an arraignment before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Judith Clark, who scheduled a bail review hearing for Feb. 7 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta to consider a defense motion for a reduction of the current $1 million bond requirement.

The motion is based on the defendant’s lack of prior criminal history. He’s being held at the Byrd Detention Center.

According to police, investigators were contacted on Jan. 7 regarding possible molestation perpetrated by the defendant on a girl identified in court documents only as “C.F.”

The alleged acts occurred at Ulloa Family Daycare, operated out of a residence in the 27700 block of Hackberry Street, near Clinton Keith Road, police said.

Court papers allege the girl was targeted between July 2020 and July 2023.

“C.F. was particularly vulnerable,” according to the criminal complaint. “It is alleged (the defendant) took advantage of a position of trust and confidence to commit the crimes.”

Detectives spent several weeks investigating the matter before gathering sufficient details to obtain and serve an arrest warrant at Ulloa’s home on Jan. 28.

There was no record of registration for the daycare with the California Department of Social Services.

The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

The post After ‘Not Guilty’ Plea, Murrieta Daycare Owner Asks For Lowered Bail appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Between Dec. 7 and 14, authorities recovered $10,281.80 in property and made 15 felony arrests. The remaining 13 arrestees received misdemeanor charges.

The theft operation was conducted at Victoria Gardens Shopping Center in Rancho Cucamonga and retail stores across Chino Hills, according to the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department.

The bust was coordinated in response to rising retail crime thefts across the Inland Empire, where police say business owners are at risk of falling victim to organized crime groups and smash-and-grab operations.

It was in November of last year when the sheriff’s department started to take note of a rise in incidents involving robberies, burglaries, shelve sweeps and vandalisms.

“These violent criminals terrorize the citizens of San Bernardino County by utilizing intimidation tactics and a mob mentality that creates an unsafe and uncomfortable shopping environment for our residents,” deputies wrote in a statement on Tuesday.

Funding for the sweep came from the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors, according to the statement.

The post 28 Arrested In Inland Empire Retail Bust, Police Say appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

The operation, which is similar to what the governor’s office called “successful operations” in Oakland, Bakersfield and San Francisco, will see the San Bernardino Police Department working with CHP’s Inland Operation Team. Additional officers will be placed in the city, in order to help local law enforcement cut down on crime that includes gun violence and property theft. 

“We are sending additional CHP support to help local law enforcement aggressively suppress criminal activity and provide this community with a new level of safety and accountability,” Newsom said in a statement. “Whether in the Bay Area, the Central Valley, or Southern California — we are monitoring and stand ready to step in and support local law enforcement to protect communities and keep Californians safe.”

According to recent data provided by the governor’s statement, violent crime in San Bernardino is almost double the statewide average, and the homicide rate is more than three times the average across California. Additionally, vehicle theft rates are amongst the highest in the state.

CHP will assist with units both on the ground and in the air, many of which will be dedicated to targeting street takeovers and stolen vehicles, the release said. Additionally, additional investigators will be provided to help SBPD in order to disrupt street gangs, organized crime and to get illegal guns off the street. 

“We are grateful to Governor Newsom for providing additional support from the California Highway Patrol to the City of San Bernardino,” said San Bernardino Mayor Helen Tran in the statement. “This year, out City Police Department’s efforts have led to a 13% reduction in violent crime, and the extra support will strengthen public safety in our community. With this new state and local collaboration in San Bernardino, we can continue to impact criminal enterprises targeting our neighborhoods and businesses.”

This is the latest in a series of similar operations going on throughout California, with similar work being conducted in the Bay Area. So far, the operations have netted more than 3,200 arrests, recovered nearly 3,000 stolen vehicles and officers have seized more than 170 illegal firearms and illegal drugs. 

Since 2019, California has invested more than $1 billion to fund resources and law enforcement personnel to fight crime, the statement said. 

Governor Newsom has made efforts to aid local law enforcement with a number of historic investments aimed at stopped organized retail theft. Just last year, 55 local law enforcement agencies received over $267 from the state to help prosecute organized retail theft perpetrators, of which more than 10,000 people were arrested. 

On top of those arrests, the CHP’s Organized Retail Theft Task Fore arrested more than 3,200 people and recovered more than 880,000 stolen items worth more than $46 million. 

The post Gov. Newsom launches “surge operation” in response to violent crime in San Bernardino County appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Giovanni Munoz Leon, 51, and Nury Alejandra Herrera Palacio, 32, both of Ontario, were arrested Thursday following a months-long Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.

Leon and Palacio were slated to make a joint initial court appearance Monday afternoon at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.

Both are being held in lieu of $500,000 bail — Leon at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta, and Palacio at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

According to sheriff’s Sgt. Robert Thomas, the defendants allegedly snatched a number of beauty products from the shelves of a Lake Elsinore outlet in late August, then proceeded to flee the location without paying. The estimated loss to the business was $3,000.

Thomas said the ensuing investigation did not turn up sufficient evidence to reveal the perpetrators’ identities, but Leon and Palacio returned to the same store on Sept. 28 and allegedly grabbed $2,000 in merchandise before fleeing again. This time, investigators were able to procure enough information to ultimately identify the alleged thieves, he said.

“They determined that from June to October of this year, Leon and Palacio were responsible for over 50 thefts within California, totaling $123,000 in (stolen) merchandise,” the sergeant said.
Detectives obtained a search warrant for the pair’s shared residence in the 2500 block of East Riverside Drive, “where evidence connecting them to the thefts was recovered,” Thomas said.

“During the search, stolen clothing was located from multiple retail establishments,” he said.

Neither defendant has documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

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TEMECULA, CA — Three separate investigations into sex predators who target children online resulted in arrests, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department has announced.

The most recent case involved a 44-year-old Sacramento man who drove to Murrieta to have sex with what he believed was a 14-year-old girl but were actually undercover law enforcement officers.

According to the sheriff’s department, deputies with the Southwest Sheriff’s Station Investigations Bureau were working on a month-long investigation into online predators.

The work wrapped up Aug. 30 when Laith Fathi Sikta drove from Northern California to Murrieta to meet the “girl” for sex. He planned to pick up the minor in the middle of the night, the sheriff’s department reported.

Instead, Sikta, who had cannabis with him, was met by deputies, according to the agency.

Sikta was arrested and booked into county jail on suspicion of contacting a minor with the intent to have sex, sending harmful matter through electronic means to a minor, and offering to furnish cannabis to a minor, the department said.

Jail records show Sikta remains behind bars at Southwest Detention Center in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Another man, Andrey Raymundo Tovar Serrato, 31, of La Puente was arrested Aug. 27 in his city of residence following a report of a sexual assault on a minor in Temecula.

That investigation began around 11:55 p.m. Aug 12 when deputies got a call about a juvenile sexual assault victim who was being treated at a local hospital. The victim told deputies she was sexually assaulted in the 40000 block of Winchester Road.

“It was discovered [the] suspect initially contacted the victim through an online platform and later formed a relationship for sexual purposes,” according to the sheriff’s department.

After deputies tracked him down, Serrato was booked into county jail on suspicion of multiple sex crimes and furnishing cannabis to a minor, the department said.

Jail records were unavailable for Serrato.

Finally, on Aug. 7, deputies from the Perris Sheriff’s Station Special Enforcement Team began an online undercover operation in which they posed as a 13-year-old girl.

During that investigation, 63-year-old Yucaipa resident Guy Vincent Schneider allegedly responded.

“Over the next few days, deputies continued to communicate with Schneider, who ultimately said he wanted to meet in order to perform sex acts with the underaged female,” the sheriff’s department said.

On Aug. 30, “the girl” arranged to meet Schneider. He, too, was met by deputies who found him in possession of two firearms, according to the sheriff’s department.

Schneider was arrested and booked into county jail on suspicion of contacting a minor for sex, arranging to meet with a minor with the intent for sexual acts, and attempted lewd acts with a minor.

He was released from custody Sept. 1 on $1 million bail, according to jail records.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department previously released the wrong booking photo for Andrey Raymundo Tovar Serrato. The article was updated to include the correct image.

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