Two people were taken into custody following a reported burglary and a pair of officer-involved shootings in Hemet on Sunday morning, according to officials.

An image shows the intersection of Florida Avenue and Yale Street in Hemet. (Credit: Google Maps)

A Hemet Police Department K-9 team responded about 5:23 a.m. to a burglary alarm at a business in the 2000 block of East Florida Avenue, Lt. Eric Dickson wrote in a news release. The team found a truck backed up to the business, as well as at least one suspect inside the building, authorities said.

One of the suspects saw a police vehicle and ran away, according to Dickson. An officer and a K-9 pursued the suspect, which is when a second suspect got into the truck and fled, the statement read.

The truck hit the police dog, and an officer-involved shooting occurred, Dickson stated. The truck continued onto Yale Street, where the suspect was apprehended on foot, the lieutenant added.

Additional officers found the fleeing vehicle at the intersection of Florida Avenue and Yale Street, and another officer-involved shooting took place, authorities said. The driver of the truck was injured in the shooting and was subsequently taken into custody, according to the news release.

The two unidentified suspects were taken to local hospitals for treatment, and the K-9 was also transported to a local veterinarian’s office. Both people were expected to survive, and the K-9 was returned home after receiving treatment for injuries to its leg, Dickson said.

The case remained under investigation.

Twenty people were temporarily displaced and several were injured after an explosive carport fire in Hemet early Friday, officials said.

Residents who were trying to get away from the flames had to jump a tall fence, resulting in injuries including a broken ankle, witnesses told KTLA.

The blaze was reported shortly before 1 a.m. and responding firefighters were met with a fully-involved carport fire radiating intense heat, Hemet Fire Department Battalion Chief James Majchrzak said. He described the flames as a "wall of heat."

Firefighters were able to stop the flames from spreading to apartments and traced the origin of the blaze to the carport.

Majchrzak said seven vehicles in the carport were destroyed and and 11 were damaged by the radiant heat 50 to 70 feet away from the fire.

The chief said the heat was so intense that residents weren't able to escape out of a normal route.

One suffered gashes and bruises from jumping over a fence.

“That was our only hope, was that back fence, that’s why all of us got injured, because it is so high, so spiky," the resident, who only wanted to be identified as Savannah, said.

She said she ran out of her apartment barefoot with her young niece and daughter, who were also barefoot, crying and scared.

She said she was grateful to firefighters who stopped the flames before they reached the apartments.

“It was so bad, it was exploding," she said about the blaze.

A bearded dragon who unexpectedly showed up on a Hemet couple’s doorstep stashed inside a delivery package from Walmart is becoming part of the family.

Now named Falkor, after the dragon in the 1984 fantasy film “The Neverending Story,” the exotic lizard of mysterious origin has settled into his new home since arriving there on June 6, the Riverside County Department of Animal Services said Tuesday.

A reptilian stowaway was not what Al and Chris Brummett had bargained for when they ordered a bicycle for one of their 19 grandchildren off Walmart.com. But as Al was pulling the bike’s parts from the box and getting ready to assemble it, he suddenly felt a beady pair of eyes staring back at him, officials said in an earlier news release.

“At first I freaked out because he was so big,” Brummett said. “Here was this massive lizard looking over his shoulder at me.”’

Falkor appeared just as startled by the encounter, according to Brummett. “There he was, and he had this look, such as, ‘What the heck just happened?’” he said. “And I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, me too.’”

The bike arrived just two days after it was ordered, but the family said it originally came from China. Brummett immediately began attempting to calculate how long the cold-blooded creature could have been in the box — which he said was large but didn’t have any holes — and what land he could have come from.

From left: Al Brummett, Animal Services Officer Harvey Beck and Chris Brummett pose with Falkor and the box he arrived in at their Hemet home in a photo released the Riverside County Department of Animal Services on June 7, 2018.

Unsure whether the curious critter was poisonous, Brummett trapped it under a five-gallon painter’s bucket and called Animal Services to investigate. An officer knowledgable in exotic animals informed them the bearded dragon, native to Australia, is legal to keep as a pet in the U.S.

Though Brummett said his wife “would have screamed crazily” if she were home when Falkor appeared, a video released by Animal Services on Tuesday shows Falkor perched on her shoulder while she caresses him and animatedly discusses his diet, habitat and plans for his care.

“He’s got a hammock, and he’s got a heat rock, and a hide, he’s got some Dubai roaches waiting for him and some super worms,” Chris says in the clip. “He’s going to be treated like a king.”

Though Animal Services typically sends exotic pets to one of its rescue partners, they made an exception for the Brummetts because the couple had prior lizard experience, officials said.

Though she’s had plenty of strange calls in her career, Officer Carra Mathewson said Falkor’s will remain among the most bizarre.

“Somehow that bearded dragon ended up in that box and who knows how long it had been in there,” she said. “It’s a wacky tale for sure.”

A woman was detained as she was driving toward the U.S.-Mexico border after her husband was found shot to death Monday at a home in Hemet, authorities said.

Authorities received a call around 6:19 a.m. about a man who had been shot at a home in the 900 block of Silver Dust Trail, according to the Hemet Police Department.

Medical personnel responded and pronounced Hector Navarrete, 41, deceased “as a result of being shot,” a police news release stated.

Navarrete’s wife Beatriz Navarrete, 42, was detained in Imperial County after the Hemet Police Department Investigations Bureau took over the case, authorities said. She was stopped as she was headed toward the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities said.

It’s not clear if Beatriz Navarrete has been arrested in the case, and no further information was released.

A 42-year-old woman was arrested and charged in the fatal shooting of her husband in Hemet, police announced Tuesday.

Beatriz Navarrete is seen in a booking photo released by the Hemet Police Department on July 3, 2018.

Beatriz Navarrete, of Hemet, is facing one count of murder and was being held without bail, the Hemet Police Department said in a news release.

At about 6:19 a.m. Monday, police were called to a home in the 900 block of Silver Dust Trail to the report of a man being shot.

When they arrived, police located Hector Navarrete, 41. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Beatriz Navarrete was detained on Monday evening in Imperial County by Hemet detectives as she was driving toward the U.S.-Mexico border, police said.

No other information was released.

A shooting in Hemet left three people injured on Saturday, officials said.

Authorities received a 911 call about shots fired in the 100 block of South Franklin Street at around 2:38 p.m., according to the Hemet Police Department.

Officers who responded to the scene found three people with gunshot wounds and had them transported to the hospital, the agency said. Two of them were in critical condition and one was released after being treated, the Police Department added.

Officials provided no further details.

Anyone with information can call Hemet police Detective M. Gomez at 951-765-2422.

After the deaths of four people in Riverside County earlier this month, all of which are believed to be heat-related, health officials are telling local residents to take extra precautions.

With triple-digit temperatures seen in the county this summer, four people died in the month of July alone, health officials said. The area is currently under an excessive heath watch from July 24 to 25, according to the National Weather Service.

The ages of the victims range from 37 to 91 years old, and while some may have been more vulnerable due to their age or underlying medical conditions, county health officials have said all their deaths were at least partially due to the extreme heat.

Three of them died in Hemet, including an 86-year-old woman and 87-year-old man who were found together at a home on July 8, authorities said. Just a day earlier, a 37-year-old man was found dead at a parking lot in the same city.

Then, on July 16, a 91-year-old man from Bermuda Dunes was found dead at a home, officials said.

In Los Angeles County, another fatality was seen around the time of the deaths in Hemet. As temperatures nearly reached 120 degrees in Woodland Hills, 63-year-old postal worker Peggy Frank was found dead in her mail truck.

While an autopsy had yet to be performed, with her cause of death not determined, her family believe it had to do with the heat. The mail carrier vehicles do not have air conditioning.

This week, temperatures have cooled a bit but they are expected to rise against next week — reaching the triple digits in Riverside County on Monday, according to the National Weather Service. That day, the expected high there is 102 degrees and the highest daytime temperatures are expected to stay somewhere over 100 degrees through Thursday.

“The elderly and the very young are particularly vulnerable to heat, and those with medical issues even more so,” Dr. Cameron Kaiser, public health officer for Riverside County, said in a news release.

To deal with the heat, health officials have advised visiting one of 50 so-called cooling centers around the county along with taking other steps.

Among the major points of guidance from health officials are carrying extra water, not leaving children or pets in parked vehicles and watching for symptoms of heat stroke — including headache, weakness or muscle pains, dizziness and nausea and vomiting.

In the Coachella Valley and other desert areas, local residents and workers should limit their time outdoors and “avoid strenuous activities,” health officials said in a news release.

No officers were hurt when a person they were pursuing in the Hemet area shot at them, police said on Saturday.

At around 7:30 p.m. on Friday, officials were following up on a man suspected of firing a gun into a field earlier in the week, according to the Hemet Police Department.

The officers spotted a car that matched the description of the suspect’s vehicle on Kirby Street and Devonshire Avenue, the agency said. When they tried to conduct a traffic stop, the driver allegedly sped away west on Devonshire Avenue.

Police started chasing the driver, who fired multiple times at them in the 200 block of N. California Ave., according to authorities. No officers were hit.

The pursuit continued into the city of Riverside, where Riverside police took over, Hemet officials said.

In an 8:38 p.m. tweet, Riverside police urged the public to stay away from the area of Arlington and California avenues due to the end of a chase.

Footage from the scene shows several officer surrounding the vehicle. The driver’s condition was unclear.

Hemet police said the incident remained under investigation.

Authorities provided no further details.

A man accused of stabbing a woman in Hemet turned himself in to authorities on Thursday, police said.

Abel Mondragon knew the woman he’s suspected of stabbing, although police have not released information about the nature of their relationship. The stabbing happened in the 200 block of North Jacinto Street on July 21.

When officers arrived to the scene that day, they saw the victim with multiple stab wounds and she provided the identity of her assailant, according to police.

Abel Mondragon is seen in a photo released by Hemet police on Aug. 2, 2018.

The woman was taken to a hospital and later released with injuries not considered life-threatening, police said.

Investigators with the Hemet Police Department were searching for Mondragon for the past two weeks as an arrest warrant had been issued for him. He turned himself in to police on Thursday and was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, authorities said.

No further information has been released by police.

Miguel Chavez, 27, is seen in a booking photo released Aug. 6, 2018, by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Officials were asking other potential victims to come forward after a teacher at Hemet High School was arrested on suspicion of multiple sex crimes.

Miguel Chavez, a 27-year-old math teacher, was arrested Monday after authorities investigated a tip they received about a previous relationship he had with a student, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

Amid the investigation, officials determined “a crime occurred” during the last school year, the news release states.

Chavez was taken into custody near the intersection of Florida and Cawston avenues around 10 a.m. Monday, inmate records show.

While sheriff’s officials said he was booked on suspicion of “numerous sexual assault charges,” inmate records indicated he was being investigated for sexual touching, digital penetration of a child and lewd acts with a child.

Detectives believe Chavez has additional victims and asked anyone who may know anything to come forward.

Those with information can contact Investigator Porrazzo at 951-791-3400.

Update: Two children who were allegedly abducted by their biological parents were found safe and reunited with their grandparents late Monday. Four people were arrested in connection with the crime, but it is unclear if they include the parents, Samiuela Stevens, 28, and Megan Sweesy, 21. 

Original story: Investigators are seeking information on the whereabouts of two young children and their biological parents, who allegedly abducted them from their caretaker's home in Hemet.

Samiuela Stevens, 28, and 21-year-old Megan Sweesy only have visitations rights with their two children, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said.

The two are accused of unlawfully taking Sione, 23 months, and 8-month-old Akanesi Stevens from their grandparent's house on the 44100 block of Gallipoli Place last Friday, Aug. 17, around 11:45 a.m.

The family is believed to be traveling with Samiuela's twin brother, Hamani Stevens.

Authorities suspect they are somewhere in Los Angeles County, possibly Venice Beach, Santa Monica or Lennox.

They are traveling in a black 2000 Nissan Altima with Utah license plate number U094T.

No further details were available, and officials did not release descriptions of the suspects or children involved.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Investigator Roy at the Riverside County Sheriff's Hemet Station, 951-791-3419.

A San Jacinto family is mourning a 29-year-old mother of three, who died along with her unborn child after colliding head-on with a suspected DUI driver over the weekend.

Krystil Kincaid was driving her Chrysler minivan north on Warren Road around 8:30 p.m. Sunday when a BMW heading southbound veered into her lane and struck her between Devonshire and Esplanade avenues in Hemet, according to Hemet police.

Krystil Kincaid is seen in a photo posted to her Facebook page on Nov. 23, 2016.

The blue BMW had been driving at a high rate of speed, investigators said.

Officials who responded to 911 reports of the crash found the silver van was partially on fire. After firefighters put out the flames, first responders had to extricate Kincaid — who was eight months pregnant — from her vehicle, police said.

Both Kincaid's legs had become pinned underneath her dashboard due to the extensive damage her car sustained, according to a GoFundMe page created to raise funds for her memorial costs.

Her husband of 12 years, Zach Kincaid, told KTLA she had him on speakerphone as the crash occurred.

He said he could hear her scream before impact, then the sound of metal and firefighters using the jaws of life as they tried to pull her from the wreckage. It's a memory that will haunt him, he said.

Krystil was flown by helicopter to a nearby trauma center, and officials had originally said she was expected to survive.

But according to Zach, she and her unborn child were legally dead as of Tuesday. Krystil remained on a breathing device only so that her organs could be harvested for donation, he said.

She leaves behind an 11-year-old daughter, two sons ages 8 and 4 and a 14-year-old stepchild.

Zach wrote on his Facebook page that sharing the traumatic news with his children was "the hardest thing i have ever done."

"I told my 2 daughters and my 2 sons that a drunk driver killed their mom," he wrote. "The pain and anger I feel within my soul is immeasurable, my heart is broken. Until we meet again Raven…"

In an interview with KTLA, he said the children had gone to the hospital expecting to welcome a new family member.

“They thought they had a baby sister here," Zach said. "They got the worst news of their life. They were told that they don’t have a mom, or a baby sister, anymore.”

Police said they found the BMW driver, identified as 28-year-old Burbank resident Marcos Forestal, walking near his wrecked car.

Forestal, a native of Cuba, is the reigning World Boxing Federation International Super Bantamweight champion.

Marcos Forestal is seen in a booking photo released by the Hemet Police Department on Sept. 11, 2018.

According to El Nuevo Herald, a Spanish-language newspaper in southeast Florida, Forestal livestreamed the aftermath of the crash as first responders were arriving.

"Guys a car appeared and I had an accident," the man identified as Forestal is heard saying as he videos the mangled remains of his BMW. "Look at what happened to me, gentlemen. A car came out in front of me and look and what happened to my car."

Forestal showed signs of alcohol intoxication and was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated and causing a collision that resulted in major injuries, officials said.

But after Kincaid and her fetus died, the arrest charge was upgraded to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, inmate records indicate.

The suspect was also treated for minor injuries at a local hospital before being taken to the Riverside County Jail.

Forestal was being held on $75,000 bail, according to inmate records.

The boxer's manager, Christina Carrillo at JAB Management, said in a statement emailed to KTLA: "I would like to extend my deepest condolences to those that have lost their loved ones in this horrible tragedy. At this time, we are cooperating fully with the ongoing investigation."

As of Tuesday night, Kincaid's GoFundMe campaign had raised more than $18,000 of its $20,000 goal.

A boxer accused of drunken driving in a head-on crash that killed a pregnant mother of three over the weekend has been charged with a felony, the Riverside District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.

Marcos Forestal is seen in a booking photo released by the Hemet Police Department on Sept. 11, 2018.

Marcos A. Forestal, 28, of Burbank, is facing one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, according to a criminal complaint filed by the DA's office. The charge against Forestal stems from the deadly crash that happened Sunday around 8:30 p.m. in Hemet, claiming the life of Krystil Kincaid and her unborn child.

On Wednesday afternoon Forestal pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Kincaid, 29, of San Jacinto, was driving her Chrysler minivan northbound on Warren Road when a BMW heading south veered into her lane and hit her, Hemet police reported.

Kincaid was eight-months-pregnant.

Krystil Kincaid is seen in a photo posted to her Facebook page on Nov. 23, 2016.

Police said Forestal's blue BMW was traveling at a high-rate-of speed. Officials said he livestreamed a video of the deadly crash scene shortly after it happened.

Kincaid's husband told KTLA he was talking to her on speakerphone when the deadly crash occurred. She leaves behind an 11-year-old daughter, two sons ages 8 and 4 and a 14-year-old stepchild.

First responders found Kincaid's minivan partially on fire and had to use the jaws of life to remove her body from the wreckage.

A GoFundMe page was started to help raise funds for Kincaid's memorial costs.

Forestal, a Cuba native, is the reigning World Boxing Federation International Super Bantamweight champion. He was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon and was being held in lieu of $75,000.

Officials announced seizing a significant amount of marijuana products and tens of thousands in cash on Friday from dispensaries accused of illegally operating in Hemet and Jurupa Valley under the name “Vault Church.”

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office said its Cannabis Regulation Task Force served search warrants at three locations: 291 N. Yale St. in Hemet and 5298 Mission Blvd. and 5024 Etiwanda Ave. in Jurupa Valley.

Authorities estimated confiscating more than 100 pounds of cannabis product and about $75,000 to $100,000 in cash.

At the Etiwanda Avenue location, the task force reported finding 200 to 300 plants that were being grown indoors as well as what appeared to be remnants of a butane honey oil lab.

Officials did not make any arrest on Friday as the investigation continued, the District Attorney’s Office said.

While state law allowing the sale of recreational marijuana took effect in January, businesses in California still need local approval.

In Jurupa Valley, 57 percent of voters in the June 5 election  approved a measure to uphold the ban on all commercial marijuana businesses in the city. Such operations are also banned in Hemet, but voters could decide in November to change that.

“The aim of the [Cannabis Regulation Task Force] is not to shut down legally operating facilities, but rather to ensure fair business practices and keep criminal activity out of the legal cannabis industry and out of our communities,” the District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.

Leaders associated with the Vault Church and other similar operations have said smoking marijuana and eating edibles were part of their religion.

The Weedmaps page for the Vault advertises the church as a “sacramental cannabis ministry [that holds] cannabis as the essential, defining element of spiritual growth, healing, and pursuit of a personal relationship with the Divine power of their enlightened self.” The page also advertises the prices of the group’s products.

Authorities in Jurupa Valley and other places where “pot churches” have proliferated claim the organizations are just dispensaries trying to avoid regulations, including taxes, USA Today reported.

In August, a Riverside Superior Court judge granted an order to let Jurupa Valley city officials close the Vault Church, according to The Press-Enterprise.

“[The judge] didn’t understand why we had to have cannabis,” minister Gilbert Aguirre told the paper. “It’s like asking Catholics to worship without bread and wine.”

Moses Delgado, 25, is seen in a driver’s license photo released by Hemet police on Sept. 26, 2018.

A man who was found stabbing another man and woman inside a Hemet home was taken into custody without a use of force despite his aggressive behavior toward responding officers, police said Wednesday.

The incident occurred around 5:35 p.m. Saturday after police were called to a residence at the Sunburst Mobile Home Park, where 25-year-old Moses Delgado was reported to be armed with a knife and threatening suicide, Hemet police said in a news release.

The first officer who responded to the scene at 1895 W. Devonshire Ave. found Delgado inside a bedroom with the two victims, officials said.

Delgado was on top of the woman, while the man was already on the floor with several stab wounds to his torso, according to police.

He allegedly was trying to cut the woman’s neck with an improvised weapon.

Although Delgado initially refused the officer’s orders to release the woman, he did drop the weapon when ordered, authorities said.

However, as additional officers responded to assist with detaining Delgado, the suspect refused to comply and became “extremely combative,” according to the news release.

Police said the injuries the officers sustained during the ordeal included abrasions and a fractured hand, but they did not specify how many officers were harmed.

Eventually, Delgado was taken into custody and transported to Hemet Valley Medical Center for a medical booking clearance. There, he was also aggressive toward medical staff and was given sedatives so that he could be treated, officials said.

No information was provided about the suspect’s injuries.

The male victim, meanwhile, suffered life-threatening stab wounds to his torso and was taken to a trauma center, where he underwent emergency surgery. He remains hospitalized but is now in stable condition, police said.

The woman sustained minor lacerations on her neck and was cleared at the scene.

“Officers used the utmost restraint in this incident, which could had resulted in a fatal officer-involved shooting,” Hemet Police Chief Rob Webb said in a written statement.

Inmate records show Delgado was formally arrested Wednesday on East Devonshire Avenue.

He was being held on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder, physical elder abuse, felony resisting an officer and violating his probation. His bail has been set at $1.05 million, police said.

The suspect was scheduled to appear in court Friday, Sept. 27.

Police arrested a man Friday in connection with a hit-and-run crash that claimed the life of a 35-year-old father as he was riding on a scooter in Silver Lake last month, officials said.

Two people were injured while riding on a scooter in Silver Lake on Sept. 4, 2018. The passenger later died from his injuries. (Credit: RMG News)

Roberto Alonso Garcia-Martinez, 33, of Echo Park was booked in connection with an unrelated warrant after investigators identified him as a suspect in the Sept. 4  hit-and-run at Glendale Boulevard and Waverly Drive, the Los Angeles Police Department's Central Traffic Division said in a written statement. Investigators tracked him down with the help of tips provided by the public.

He is accused of being behind the wheel of a 2010 BMW 5-series sedan that rear-ended a motorized scooter, police said. Esdras Velasquez, 35, of Los Angeles was thrown from the scooter and possible dragged by the car, police said.

The scooter became lodged beneath the car and was dragged for about a block, investigators said. The BMW came to a stop and briefly drove in reverse to dislodge the scooter before speeding off.

Velasquez, a father of two, was hospitalized with major head injuries, authorities said. He remained in a coma for six days before he succumbed to his injuries on Sept. 10.

The driver of the scooter, described as a relative of Velasquez, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

His death turned the case from a felony hit-and-run investigation into a vehicular manslaughter case, police said.

Police released video footage of the suspect vehicle in hopes of generating clues. It paid off, as investigators said they received several anonymous tips that helped lead them to Garcia-Martinez.

The car believed to have been involved in the crash was found at an auto body shop in Hemet, police added.

And some of the car's parts were still preserved — despite Garcia-Martinez remodeling the vehicle after the crash, according to LAPD Detective Moses Castillo.

"He did replace the hood of the car and the front bumper but ... fortunately for us, he did not destroy them and we have them in our custody," Moses said.

Moses said further forensic investigation will be done on the vehicle to see if there's DNA evidence directly linking it to the victim.

A woman who was riding as a passenger in the car at the time of the deadly crash has still not been found, and police said they want to speak with her.

Garcia-Martinez's bail for the existing warrant was set at $10,000.  Detectives plan to present their case to the Los Angeles County District Attorneys' Office on Tuesday for consideration of charges in connection the crash, police said.

It's not clear if anyone will be claiming a standing $50,000 reward offered by the city of Los Angeles for information that leads to the capture and conviction of drivers involved in deadly hit-and-run collisions. Tipsters who help catch drivers in non-fatal hit-and-run collision can collect up to $25,000 in reward money.

KTLA's Marissa Wenzke contributed to this report.

Dashon Raymond White, 24, is seen in a photo released by Riverside police on Dec. 14, 2018.

Three men and a juvenile have been arrested in connection with robbing more than a dozen AutoZone stores across San Bernardino and Riverside counties at gunpoint, police announced Friday.

The crime spree started with two masked gunmen entering an AutoZone in San Jacinto on March 21, holding an employee with an AR-15 style rifle while cash was stolen from the store, according to police. The suspects were all taken into custody following a police chase Wednesday night.

More than 30 AutoZones across San Bernardino and Riverside counties were robbed the same way in the months after, with robbers holding employees at gunpoint in every instance, Riverside Police Sgt. Trinidad Lomeli said.

He said police have connected the four suspects to at least 17 of those robberies so far.

In at least one of the robberies, a store manager was held at gunpoint and taken to the back of the store to open the safe, Lomeli said.

Jada Shardae Allen, 18, is seen in a photo released by Riverside police on Dec. 14, 2018.

Stores in the cities of Grand Terrace, Riverside, Menifee, Jurupa Valley, Perris, Hemet, San Bernardino and Redlands were all targeted, police said. Riverside faced the most robberies, with a total of eight.

The suspects were finally captured Wednesday night when Fontana police and other investigators were doing surveillance on AutoZone stores within the city.

They have been identified as 19-year-old Daeon Raishawn Cox and 24-year-old Dashon Raymond White of Moreno Valley and 18-year-old Jada Shardae Allen of Perris. The fourth suspect’s identity has not been released since he’s underage.

Daeon Raishawn Cox, 19 is seen in a photo released by Riverside police on Dec. 14, 2018.

About 8 p.m. on Wednesday, law enforcement officials stopped the suspects just as they were trying to rob an AutoZone located in the 14000 block of Baseline Avenue in Fontana.

From there, the suspects took off in a vehicle and led officers on a chase — at one point throwing a loaded AR-15 rifle from the vehicle that was later recovered, according to police. The pursuit ended in Rancho Cucamonga.

A rifle used in a series of robberies targeting AutoZone stores throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties is seen in this photo released by Riverside police on Dec. 14, 2018.

Cox was booked into West Valley Detention Center while White was booked into Robert Presley Detention Center and Allen was booked into Central Detention Center.

A parolee from Hemet is back behind bars after he stole a purse from a woman, then tried to escape from jail after being arrested for the theft on Friday, authorities said.

Jesus Galvan Mata, 32, of Hemet, pictured in a photo released by the Hemet Police Department following his arrest on Dec. 21, 2018.

Jesus Galvan Mata, also known as Jesus Mata Vargas, 32, is accused of escape, grand theft from a person, resisting arrest with violence, resisting or obstructing police and violating his parole, Hemet Police Department Lt. Nate Miller said in a written statement.

Officers responded to a report of a purse theft about 12:45 p.m. at a Lowe’s store at 350 South Sanderson Avenue, he said. They learned he had allegedly grabbed a purse from a 58-year-old woman and fled the area in a car.

A witness was able to take down the car’s license plate number, Miller said. Officers soon learned the vehicle was registered to a home in Hemet, where Mata lives.

Police found Mata hiding in a closet, according to Miller. The woman’s purse was recovered at the home, along with other evidence linking Mata to the theft.

After being taken to jail, police said Mata got into a fight with another inmate about 8 p.m.

“While being moved to another cell to separate the two men, Mata attempted to run away,” Miller said. “Mata did not get away from the facility and was immediately captured.”

He has since been transferred to the Riverside County Jail, officials added.

He was being held without bail pending his initial court appearance, scheduled Wednesday, according to Riverside county booking records.

Hemet officials on Wednesday arrested a Palms Springs man they described as a “well-known and aggressive panhandler” after he allegedly assaulted a police officer, among other accusations.

According to Hemet police, officers just before noon conducted a probation search on 54-year-old Patrick Bradley at a motel in the 1600 block of West Florida Avenue.

Patrick Bradley is seen in a booking photo provided by Hemet police on Dec. 26, 2018.

The agency said the visit was intended to ensure that Bradley was complying with the terms of his probation. The Police Department did not elaborate on his previous conviction.

Police said they ultimately detained Bradley on suspicion of possession of narcotics paraphernalia, being a felon in possession of teargas, being under the influence of a controlled substance and assault on a police officer. The Police Department did not provide further details on the alleged assault.

The agency said over the previous months, several people have complained about Bradley’s actions. He’s accused of cursing at those who refused to give him money and using his scooter to block their vehicles into parking stalls.

“Mr. Bradley uses several different stories in an attempt to persuade people to give him money such as he’s homeless or that he is a disabled veteran,” a statement from the Police Department said. “Neither of these stories are true and the Hemet Police Department would like to discourage our residents from giving him money. Mr. Bradley has a history of violence and makes his living by duping people into feeling sorry for him.”

According to the agency, Wednesday’s arrest marked the third criminal case its team has filed on Bradley in the last two weeks.

He was being held on $10,000 bail, the Police Department said.

Authorities provided no further information.

A man who was shot and wounded in Hemet was rushed to the hospital by a passerby and later died, police said Monday.

The victim, 28-year-old Juan Romero, was taken to a nearby hospital and then transferred to the Riverside Unified Health System, where he died of his wounds after officers were called about the shooting Friday night, according to police.

Officers were called about shots fired in the 100 block of North Tahquitz Street and the victim’s transport about 10 p.m. that evening.

No information about a possible suspect was released by police. The investigation is ongoing and no other details were released.

Anyone with information can contact investigator Matt Gomez at 951-765-2422 or submit anonymous tips through Crime Stoppers or the Hemet Police Department’s anonymous tip line at 866-640-8477.