Rod Pacheco

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."

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."

Assembly Republicans, who were drubbed in this week's election, on Thursday selected a former Riverside County prosecutor and one of the few Latino Republican officeholders as their new leader. Rod Pacheco, 40, replaces Assemblyman Bill Leonard of San Bernardino. Leonard announced that he was stepping down after majority Democrats added five lower-house seats in Tuesday's balloting, a significant setback for Republicans, who had expected modest gains.

Three Riverside County businessmen and four associates were criminally charged Thursday after prosecutors said they sold false investments and committed grand theft in a scheme that bilked clients of $17 million and left many broke. "The schemes . . . collected tens of millions of dollars and victimized both individual investors and financial institutions," U.S. Atty. George S. Cardona said at a news conference in Riverside. "Using storefronts across the Inland Empire and numerous phone lines assigned to their shell companies, the schemers misled banks into believing that prospective borrowers had significant assets, when in fact the schemers were engaging in a mortgage fraud shell game built on lies to both their investors and the banks."

Police have arrested an employee of a local newspaper who they say placed a classified advertisement that is being investigated as a death threat against Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco. Gang and SWAT team officers from the Riverside Police Department took Chandler William Cardwell, 32, into custody late Friday night at his home in Perris and booked him Saturday on suspicion of making terrorist threats and possession of a concealed firearm.

Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco was billed this week for a classified ad in the Riverside Press-Enterprise that is being investigated by police as a possible death threat against him. An Aug. 25 ad placed by a third party listed a "Big Blowout, Going Out of Business" sale, with Pacheco's home address and phone number. The ad said proceeds would benefit the "Rod Pacheco memorial fund."

The California attorney general's office dropped two gun charges against a 32-year-old Perris man accused of threatening Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco in a classified ad. The Aug. 25 ad in the Riverside Press-Enterprise included Pacheco's phone number and home address and listed a "Big Blowout, Going Out of Business" yard sale with proceeds to benefit the "Rod Pacheco memorial fund."

The public generally has a right to know the names of law enforcement officers involved with lethal force and other critical incidents, state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown has concluded. But Brown said law enforcement agencies may not be required to disclose the names of officers if they were involved in undercover operations, work that might involve retaliation by gang members, or other situations where identifying them would harm more than help the public interest. Decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis, he wrote.

Investigators in Riverside are searching for whoever took out a classified ad that police view as a serious threat against Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco. Officials in the district attorney's office believe members of an East Riverside gang known as East Side Riva may have bought the ad in this weekend's Riverside Press-Enterprise. The ad, which is being investigated as a criminal threat, was for a "Big Blowout" yard sale in East Riverside.

Re "Pacheco Loses Top Assembly Post to Baugh," April 7: Following November's dismal election performance it appeared, however briefly, that California's Republican Party was finally getting the message. As a lifelong, devout Republican, I breathed a sigh of relief when the party chose Rod Pacheco to lead the GOP Assembly caucus. The message seemed to validate everything that I had been trying to convey to my all-too-liberal cadre of friends and family for years. Namely, that the Republican Party is not the cell of right-wing monsters that the media have made it out to be, and that the Republican Party is a colorblind model of inclusion that is not leery of the state's growing Hispanic population.

The public generally has a right to know the names of law enforcement officers involved with lethal force and other critical incidents, state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown has concluded. But Brown said law enforcement agencies may not be required to disclose the names of officers if they were involved in undercover operations, work that might involve retaliation by gang members, or other situations where identifying them would harm more than help the public interest. Decisions must be made on a case-by-case basis, he wrote.

A Perris man accused of threatening Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco in a newspaper ad pleaded guilty Wednesday to making a threat and could face as much as three years in prison. Chandler William Cardwell, 33, worked in the Riverside Press-Enterprise's classified advertising department when he placed an ad Aug. 25 for a "Big Blowout, Going Out of Business" yard sale with proceeds to benefit the "Rod Pacheco memorial fund." It listed the district attorney's home address and phone number.

The California attorney general's office dropped two gun charges against a 32-year-old Perris man accused of threatening Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco in a classified ad. The Aug. 25 ad in the Riverside Press-Enterprise included Pacheco's phone number and home address and listed a "Big Blowout, Going Out of Business" yard sale with proceeds to benefit the "Rod Pacheco memorial fund."

Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco was billed this week for a classified ad in the Riverside Press-Enterprise that is being investigated by police as a possible death threat against him. An Aug. 25 ad placed by a third party listed a "Big Blowout, Going Out of Business" sale, with Pacheco's home address and phone number. The ad said proceeds would benefit the "Rod Pacheco memorial fund."

Police have arrested an employee of a local newspaper who they say placed a classified advertisement that is being investigated as a death threat against Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco. Gang and SWAT team officers from the Riverside Police Department took Chandler William Cardwell, 32, into custody late Friday night at his home in Perris and booked him Saturday on suspicion of making terrorist threats and possession of a concealed firearm.

Investigators in Riverside are searching for whoever took out a classified ad that police view as a serious threat against Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco. Officials in the district attorney's office believe members of an East Riverside gang known as East Side Riva may have bought the ad in this weekend's Riverside Press-Enterprise. The ad, which is being investigated as a criminal threat, was for a "Big Blowout" yard sale in East Riverside.

A Perris man accused of threatening Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco in a newspaper ad pleaded guilty Wednesday to making a threat and could face as much as three years in prison. Chandler William Cardwell, 33, worked in the Riverside Press-Enterprise's classified advertising department when he placed an ad Aug. 25 for a "Big Blowout, Going Out of Business" yard sale with proceeds to benefit the "Rod Pacheco memorial fund." It listed the district attorney's home address and phone number.

Three Riverside County businessmen and four associates were criminally charged Thursday after prosecutors said they sold false investments and committed grand theft in a scheme that bilked clients of $17 million and left many broke. "The schemes . . . collected tens of millions of dollars and victimized both individual investors and financial institutions," U.S. Atty. George S. Cardona said at a news conference in Riverside. "Using storefronts across the Inland Empire and numerous phone lines assigned to their shell companies, the schemers misled banks into believing that prospective borrowers had significant assets, when in fact the schemers were engaging in a mortgage fraud shell game built on lies to both their investors and the banks."

Riverside County Dist. Atty. Rod Pacheco was sworn in Tuesday afternoon, taking over from Grover Trask, who oversaw the rapid expansion of the office for more than two decades and made Riverside County's conviction rate among the highest in California. At a ceremony on the steps of the Riverside County courthouse, Trask said Pacheco -- a former deputy -- had the competence, track record and integrity to take over one of the largest district attorney's offices in the nation.