Riverside Ca

Police on Thursday arrested the last remaining suspect in last week's slaying of a Corona teenager -- as thousands gathered the same day for the victim's funeral. Corona and Riverside police, acting on a tip, arrested Edward Juan Cuellar, 16, of Corona about 1 a.m. after the sport utility vehicle he was riding in with five other people was stopped on Van Buren Boulevard in Riverside, said Sgt. Neil Reynolds of the Corona Police Department.

Former Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach was charged Monday with driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he crashed his city-owned vehicle last month after a night of drinking, officials said. The Feb. 8 accident happened after Leach had four drinks at home and at least seven more at a strip club in Colton, according to an investigation by the California Highway Patrol. The CHP said Leach, 62, had been taking "several" prescription medications that carried strict warnings that they not be mixed with alcohol.

The Justice Department's civil rights division said Thursday it had found insufficient evidence to prosecute four white Riverside police officers involved in the 1998 shooting death of a 19-year-old black woman who passed out in her car with a gun in her lap. "Tyisha Miller's death was a terrible tragedy," said Assistant U.S. Atty. Gen. Gerald Boyd.

Just a few hours before crashing his city-owned vehicle last week, former Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach had been drinking at a strip club in Colton, according to a lawyer for the club and surveillance video. Leach went into the topless Club 215 at 10:24 p.m. Feb. 7 and drank four Chivas Regal Scotch whiskeys, ate chicken wings and left at 1:48 a.m. Feb. 8, said club attorney Roger Jon Diamond. "He was very dignified and behaved himself," Diamond said. "He was eating and drinking by himself, but he did interact with other people."

The City Council voted 6 to 1 this week to do away with the Orange Blossom Festival because of violence at the annual street fair in downtown Riverside last weekend. Police made several arrests at the street fair, breaking up a fight and citing a woman on suspicion of public intoxication and threatening a peace officer. The city hopes to organize a new event with a stronger emphasis on Riverside's history and culture to replace the one organized by the nonprofit Orange Blossom Festival Assn.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers took part in a massive sweep against the leadership of Riverside's most notorious gang Wednesday, making 50 arrests and confiscating armor-piercing bullets, assault rifles, knives and two caged rattlesnakes. "The weapons you see are a small sample of what is out there on the street," said Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach, standing by a table displaying guns, machetes and bullets at a Riverside news conference. "The gangs don't run the streets, the citizens do."

In 1909, when President William Howard Taft visited Riverside's Mission Inn, founder Frank Miller led him to an outsized chair specially constructed for Taft's 300-pound-plus frame. The president was not charmed. "Did you have to make the chair so large?" Taft is said to have asked. He at first refused to sit in it, but later relented with the proviso that no photos be taken. Miller meant no offense -- he just liked to do things in a big way. The 239-room inn, which has been described as a cross between a European villa and a California mission, is a block long and chock-full of artifacts from around the world.

Just a few hours before crashing his city-owned vehicle last week, former Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach had been drinking at a strip club in Colton, according to a lawyer for the club and surveillance video. Leach went into the topless Club 215 at 10:24 p.m. Feb. 7 and drank four Chivas Regal Scotch whiskeys, ate chicken wings and left at 1:48 a.m. Feb. 8, said club attorney Roger Jon Diamond. "He was very dignified and behaved himself," Diamond said. "He was eating and drinking by himself, but he did interact with other people."

A 24-year-old Riverside man died Friday morning after accidentally shooting himself in the head at a local firing range, police said. Surveillance video from the Riverside Magnum indoor public shooting range showed the man loading a handgun and appearing to inadvertently fire a single shot to his head just moments after arriving. The video showed the man "kind of fumbling around" as if he were unfamiliar with the weapon, said Lt. Paul Villanueva of the Riverside Police Department.

An appeals court Wednesday removed a federal judge in Los Angeles from a wrongful conviction lawsuit, ruling that U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson's impartiality in handling the case "might be questioned." The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acted the same day Anderson declared a mistrial after the jury deadlocked over Herman Atkins' damages claim. The case will be retried before another judge.

Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach stepped down Thursday just three days after he crashed a city-owned car under circumstances that have raised questions about his behavior and his department's response. City Manager Bradley Hudson said Leach's retirement for "medical reasons" was effective immediately. He also announced a "sweeping Internal Affairs investigation" into the Police Department's actions after the crash, to be overseen by Hudson and former Riverside County Dist. Atty.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers took part in a massive sweep against the leadership of Riverside's most notorious gang Wednesday, making 50 arrests and confiscating armor-piercing bullets, assault rifles, knives and two caged rattlesnakes. "The weapons you see are a small sample of what is out there on the street," said Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach, standing by a table displaying guns, machetes and bullets at a Riverside news conference. "The gangs don't run the streets, the citizens do."

Congregants at Temple Beth El who had gathered to celebrate the last night of Hanukkah were met by a group of neo-Nazi demonstrators who waved red-and-black swastika flags outside the Reform synagogue in Riverside on Friday evening. Rabbi Suzanne Singer said the demonstration was the third such protest at the temple in recent months. She said she thinks it was connected to a counter-protest held in September by members of the synagogue and others responding to a neo-Nazi protest at a day labor site.

In 1909, when President William Howard Taft visited Riverside's Mission Inn, founder Frank Miller led him to an outsized chair specially constructed for Taft's 300-pound-plus frame. The president was not charmed. "Did you have to make the chair so large?" Taft is said to have asked. He at first refused to sit in it, but later relented with the proviso that no photos be taken. Miller meant no offense -- he just liked to do things in a big way. The 239-room inn, which has been described as a cross between a European villa and a California mission, is a block long and chock-full of artifacts from around the world.

A 14-year-old student was struck and killed by a Metrolink train Wednesday morning as he walked to Arlington High School in Riverside, police said. Samuel Sung Jae Shin was heading south on Jackson Street at 7:44 a.m. when he came to a railroad crossing with the arms down and bells ringing, authorities said. The teen let a westbound train pass and began crossing the tracks when an eastbound train struck and killed him instantly.

A former Border Patrol officer said Thursday that constant demands to meet monthly arrest quotas led agents in the Inland Empire to cruise streets, bus stops and even medical clinics looking for illegal immigrants.

Riverside Police Chief Russ Leach stepped down Thursday just three days after he crashed a city-owned car under circumstances that have raised questions about his behavior and his department's response. City Manager Bradley Hudson said Leach's retirement for "medical reasons" was effective immediately. He also announced a "sweeping Internal Affairs investigation" into the Police Department's actions after the crash, to be overseen by Hudson and former Riverside County Dist. Atty.

For home buyers seeking amenities including hardwood floors, coved ceilings, built-in bookcases, mullioned windows and French doors, this city's well-kept enclave, where street names were inspired by tree varieties, is a bastion of affordable, custom-built California bungalows and Craftsman, Tudor and Mediterranean-style homes.

The U.S. Border Patrol vowed Monday to investigate allegations of a quota system at its Riverside office, which allegedly required agents to arrest a set number of illegal immigrants each month or face punishment. "The Border Patrol has never had a quota system and is not expected to operate on quotas," said Agent Richard Velez, an agency spokesman. "Right now these allegations are under investigation. We will soon find out what happened."

When the citrus industry transformed Riverside into a prosperous hub in the early 1900s, it was dubbed California's second gold rush, and that bright spirit shows in the city's eye-popping annual Festival of Lights. The Mission Inn Hotel and Spa (3649 Mission Inn Ave, [951] 784-0300; www.missioninn.com), a historic landmark that occupies an entire city block, is the centerpiece of the festival, adorned with 3.