When a high school student was arrested on suspicion of making threats against a school employee Friday, three other students tried to help her escape from custody and were also arrested after one of them tried punching a school resource officer, the Hemet Police Department said in a news release.

The 15-year-old Tahquitz High School girl walked into Rancho Viejo Middle School shortly before 4:00 p.m. and got into an argument with and “threatened to harm” the school employee, police said.

The school resource officer was called to the scene and tried to speak to her, but the student “would not speak with him and tried to leave,” according to police.

The officer detained the student and began walking her to his vehicle when a crowd began to form around them.

“Students [were] becoming aggressive and demanding that the officer release the Tahquitz student,” Hemet police said.

One student blocked the car door from closing and another tried to punch the officer as he was trying to get the girl into the vehicle, according to authorities.

The officer called for backup and “had to push the aggressive students back,” the news release read.

The crowd ultimately dispersed and a 13-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of felony assault on a police officer, inciting a riot and participating in a riot. Another 13-year-old boy and a 14-year-old boy were both arrested on charges of inciting a riot and participating in a riot, according to the news release.

All four teenagers were taken to a Riverside County juvenile hall, police said.

The officer was not injured in the incident.

Hemet police released the identity Thursday of a man being sought in connection with a fatal shooting in the city months earlier.

Luis Eduardo Reyes, 27, is seen in a photo released by Hemet police on Aug. 29, 2019.

Luis Eduardo Reyes, 27, has been identified by authorities as the primary suspect in the death of Juan Ernesto Romero on Dec. 28, 2018. Police believe he has fled to Mexico and are asking for the public’s help in finding him.

Officers found the victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds after being called to the scene in the 100 block of North Tahquitz Avenue just before 10 p.m., according to police. Romero later died of his injuries.

Several people suspected of helping Reyes flee have been arrested as the investigation continues.

Anyone with information about Luis Reyes’ whereabouts is asked to contact Corporal Matthew Gomez at 951-765-2422 or mgomez@cityofhemet.org. Anonymous tips can be submitted by calling the department’s anonymous tip line  at 951-765-3897 or by visiting www.crimestoppersplus.org.

Steven Alvarez is seen in a booking photo released Sept. 10, 2019, by the Hemet Police Department.

A Hemet man wearing a T-shirt declaring “I go hard” was arrested following a brief pursuit early Tuesday morning, officials said.

Steven Alvarez, 32, was first wanted for disturbing residents on the 2800 block of Cindy Lane around 4:40 a.m., Hemet police said in a news release.

Various callers told authorities that a man was spending the early morning hours racing up and down the street in a blue Honda Civic.

Officers who responded say they found Alvarez driving recklessly, and he refused to pull over even after they turned on their lights and sirens.

Alvarez “went hard for about 2 miles at speeds exceeding 60 mph,” the news release states.

The chase ended near the corner of Florida and Sanderson avenues, police said. It was unclear whether Alvarez relented or was unable to continue.

The suspect was arrested on suspicion of felony evading without further incident. Officials said he was being held on $100,000 bail.

A woman has pleaded guilty to the death of an infant who suffocated in a beanbag chair at her unlicensed day care center in Hemet.

Denise Worman entered an involuntary manslaughter plea Thursday. She’ll be sentenced to 180 days in a work release program.

Investigators say two years ago, Worman was caring for 7-month-old Addison Watkins and her 3-year-old brother at her home in Hemet.

Worman put them on a beanbag chair and walked away before returning a half-hour later to find the infant face down in the chair with her brother on top of her, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported, citing a Hemet Fire Department report.

The child went into cardiac arrest and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

During sentencing in a Banning courtroom, Worman apologized to the family after the girl’s mother, Kristin Watkins, told Worman that her negligence had ruined her life.

The Watkins family had been leaving their son for day care at the home for years, according to a GoFundMe page that raised money for the child’s funeral expenses.

Watkins posted on Facebook in 2017 saying that her daughter’s death left her feeling “broken, shattered, purposeless.”

“I can’t wrap my head around the fact that I am left with a lifelong sentence of pain and heartache yet the person responsible for your loss just keeps getting extensions and extensions enjoying her family at home,” the mother wrote online.

A fire ignited in the San Jacinto Mountain between Hemet and Idyllwild on Sunday and quickly blackened more than 163 acres within the San Bernardino National Forest, authorities said.

The Bautista Fire was first reported around 7 p.m. in the forest east of Hemet and south of Idyllwild, prompting the closure of Bautista Canyon Road, according to San Bernardino National Forest officials.

No structures were threatened, and no evacuations were ordered, officials said. But U.S. Forest Service officials noted that the fire appeared to have "potential" to spread to 500 acres or more.

More than 150 firefighters, assisted by a night-flying helicopter, continue battling the flames Sunday night.

Cal Fire firefighters joined their counterparts in the U.S. Forest Service in fighting the fire.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

A shooting at a Hemet motel early Saturday left a victim dead, authorities said.

A report of “shots fired” first drew officers to the motel in the 2600 block of West Florida Avenue, Hemet Police Department Lt. Jeff Davis said in a written statement.

“Hemet police officers located a male gunshot victim,” the lieutenant said. “Medical aid responded and pronounced the victim deceased.”

No further details, including a description of the suspect, were available Saturday afternoon.

Anyone with information was urged to contact Hemet Police Department Investigator Alvarez at 951-765-2426. Tips may be submitted anonymously.

Salvador Curiel is seen in a booking photo released Oct. 8, 2019, by the Hemet Police Department.

An 84-year-old man was arrested after fatally shooting his son in front of their family in Hemet early Tuesday, officials said.

The gunfire was reported around 2 a.m. at a home on the 2400 block of West Oakland Avenue, according to a news release from Hemet police.

Responding officers found 31-year-old Ricardo Curiel suffering from a gunshot wound to his torso, and surrounded by family members.

Curiel succumbed to his injuries after being taken to the Riverside University Health System Medical Center, police said.

The ensuing investigation led authorities to arrest the victim’s father, Salvador Aceves Curiel of Hemet, on suspicion of murder.

Police have not given a motive for the killing.

The suspect was pending transport to the Riverside County Jail, where he would be held on $2 million bail, officers said.

Fire crews have fully contained a brush fire that broke out near Diamond Valley Lake in the Hemet area early Monday morning.

The blaze, dubbed the Diamond Fire, began about 1 a.m. south of Domenigoni Parkway near Warren Road, just north of Diamond Valley Lake.

The wildfire had scorched about 20 acres as of 3:22 a.m., according to a tweet from the Cal Fire Riverside.

Crews had stopped the forward spread of the blaze just before 3:30, according to Cal Fire.

By 12:20 p.m., the blaze was fully contained, officials said.

No evacuations or injuries were reported in the fire. The cause remains under investigation.

Stephon Blakely, 40, pictured in a photo released by the Hemet Police Department on Oct. 30, 2019.

Investigators reached out to the public Wednesday for help in tracking down a 40-year-old man they say shot another man to death at a Hemet motel earlier this month.

Stephon Blakely has been identified as a suspect in the shooting, which took place about 12:45 a.m. on Oct. 5 at a motel in the 2600 block of West Florida Avenue, the Hemet Police Department said in a written statement.

Stephon Blakely, 40, pictured in a photo released by the Hemet Police Department on Oct. 30, 2019.

Police responded to reports of gunfire when they found the victim, initially described only as a man, who had been shot, officials said. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. His identity was not available late Wednesday.

“The suspect, later identified as Stephon Blakely, shot the victim and fled the scene on foot,” according to the statement.

Detectives have obtained a warrant for Blakely’s arrest on suspicion of murder.

Anyone with information was urged to contact Hemet Police Department Investigator Alvarez at 951-765-2426.

Hemet police are searching for a driver who fled the scene after hitting a pedestrian with his car last week, authorities said Monday.

Officers responded to the 3200 block of Warley Road for a collision between a car and a pedestrian at 7:40 p.m. Friday, according to a Hemet Police Department news release.

When they arrived, officers found the pedestrian, described as a 45-year-old man, lying unresponsive on the road.

Officers believe the car involved in the hit-and-run collision is a black 2015 to 2017 Dodge Challenger with front-end damage, according to the department.

The pedestrian’s identity was not released and his condition was unknown Monday.

Anyone with information was asked to contact Detective Sgt. Gabriel Gomez at 951-765-2396.

Andrew Adam Hampton, 23, of Hemet, pictured in a photo released by the Hemet Police Department following his arrest on Dec. 11, 2019.

A Hemet man accused of intentionally striking and killing another man with a Dodge Challenger last week turned himself in to investigators on Wednesday, officials said.

Andrew Adam Hampton, 23, was booked on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in connection with the deadly and allegedly intentional collision, which took place about 7:40 p.m. Friday in a residential neighborhood in the 3200 block of Warley Road, according to Hemet Police Department Sgt. Gabriel Gomez.

James Gauthier Jr., 46, described as transient, died in what officials described as a vehicular attack, Riverside County coroner’s records show.

“Investigators on scene determined the event was not a collision but an intentional act resulting in a death,” Gomez said in a written statement. “The responsible party fled the scene in a 2015-2017 Dodge Challenger.”

Hampton turned himself in at the Hemet Police Department about 10:45 a.m., according to Gomez.

“The vehicle used in this incident was located and collected as evidence,” the sergeant added.

No information regarding a motive in the alleged killing was released.

Bail for Hampton was set at $2 million pending legal proceedings, officials said.

Anyone with information was urged to contact the Hemet Police Department’s anonymous tip line at 866-640-8477.

The 3200 block of Warley Road in Hemet, as viewed in a Google Street View image.

A father and two children he tried to rescue are dead after a fire broke out in an apartment building in Hemet early Friday morning. A third child remains hospitalized in grave condition, according to police.

The fire was reported just after 1 a.m. at the Olive Apartments in the 100 block of North Alessandro Street.

First responders arrived within minutes to find a portion of the two-story apartment building completely engulfed in flames, Hemet Police Department spokesperson Nathan Miller said.

A 41-year-old man had escaped the apartment with his wife, an 11-year-old child and an infant but went back inside to rescue his other children. “He didn’t make it out,” Miller said.

One neighbor, Francisco Paez, recalls the tragic moments he heard his neighbors screaming for their family,

"She had the other little baby in her hands and she was crying, screaming. And it broke my heart. That's why I tried to go in there and see what I could do but the flames were already too, they were higher - too dangerous. I couldn't get in there," Paez said.

Firefighters later found the man dead inside the apartment building, a new release from the Police Department stated.

Three children were also located and transported to a nearby hospital.

A 4-year-old girl and a 12-year-old girl were pronounced dead at the hospital, according to the news release.

The third child, described as an 8-year-old boy, was listed in grave condition.

Authorities have not identified any of the victims.

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire.

Dozens of residents living in the apartment's 25 units have been displaced.

An 8-year-old Hemet boy died Saturday from injuries he suffered in an apartment fire authorities say was sparked by a Christmas tree that also claimed the lives of his father and two sisters early Friday, according to family.

Firefighters respond to a fire in Hemet on Dec. 27, 2019. (Credit: KTLA)

Janessa Moreno, 4; Maria Moreno, 12; Juan Moreno, 41,  died just after the 1 a.m. fire at the Olive Apartments, 150 N. Alessandro Street, Hemet Police Department officials said.

Isaac Moreno, 8, succumbed to his injuries Saturday, family said.

Firefighters arrived at the scene to find the two-story building engulfed in flames, Hemet police spokesman Nathan Miller previously said.

Evidence and witness statements indicate that the fire was electrical in nature and originated at the family’s Christmas tree, police said in a news release Saturday.

Juan Moreno initially escaped the burning apartment with his wife, their 11-year-old daughter and an infant, but he went back inside to rescue his other children, officials said.

“He didn’t make it out,” Miller said.

A neighbor, Francisco Paez, described seeing the mother screaming and crying as she held her baby.

"It broke my heart," Paez said. "That's why I tried to go in there and see what I could do but the flames were already too, they were higher, too dangerous. I couldn't get in there."

The fire displaced dozens of other residents in the 25-unit building.

In a statement Saturday, Hemet Fire Department Chief Scott Brown highlighted the importance of smoke alarms and encouraged people to call the agency at 951-765-2450 for more information about fire prevention.

“This tragedy underscores how quickly a fire can spread," Brown said.

KTLA's Alexandria Hernandez contributed to this report. 

A former Santa Ana College instructor has been charged with molesting a teenage high school student who was enrolled in his welding class in 2015, and authorities believe there could be more victims.

George Moreno is seen in a booking photo released by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office on Jan. 8, 2020.

George Moreno, 59, of Cherry Valley, was arrested Tuesday at Alessandro High School in Hemet, where he was employed as a welding instructor, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Moreno was charged with four felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a 15-year-old.

“Teachers are entrusted with our most precious resource — our children,” O.C. District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in a statement. “Classrooms should be safe place where children can learn — not hunting grounds for predators.”

Santa Ana police were notified about Moreno in August 2019, when a woman told detectives she had been sexually molested by him when she was 15. She said the molestation began in 2015 and told police about numerous incidents that happened at the college over a three-year period, prosecutors said.

Moreno was a welding instructor at Santa Ana College from 2007 to 2018. Students from Santa Ana Middle College High School were enrolled in Moreno’s class during that time.

If convicted as charged, Moreno faces a maximum sentence of five years.

He was released from the Orange County Jail after posting $50,000 bail, officials said.

Authorities believe Moreno, who taught at several high schools and community colleges across Southern California, may have additional victims and are asking for the public’s help in identifying other possible victims.

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Santa Ana Police Detective Gerry Corona at 714-245-8343, Gcorona@santa-ana.org. Anonymous tipsters can also contact Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855-847-6227.

Two people have been arrested after three women were found killed in a Hemet home, authorities said Thursday.

Officers received a report that there was "a female laying in a pool of blood" in the 1400 block of Rabbit Peak Way and responded just before 9 p.m. Wednesday, the Hemet Police Department said in a news release.

Wendy Lopez-Araiza, 46, and Genesis Lopez-Araiza, 21, are seen in a photo posted to a GoFundMe page set up by family members to raise money for funeral expenses.

Officers arrived to find three women dead inside the home. They were identified as Wendy Lopez-Araiza, 46, Genesis Lopez-Araiza, 21, and Trinity Clyde, 18.

It's unclear how the women died, and authorities have not released information on how they knew each other.

Police also have not released a possible motive or what led to the women's deaths. They have not identified the two people who were arrested and only indicated they are adults. Police did say that there were no additional people being sought.

A visibly distraught man who said he was Clyde's father stood outside the home Thursday morning, repeating, “they got my kid." He said she was renting a room at the home, and he'd just bought supplies yesterday so she could paint the walls of her bedroom.

He also said his 18-year-old daughter's car is missing.

Another man at the scene said he was Wendy Lopez-Araiza's brother and Genesis' uncle. "We don't have anything to say right now," he told reporters.

Trinity Clyde is seen in an undated photo posted to her Facebook page.

Heather Grisby, a neighbor who’s also the manager at a local roller rink where Clyde worked, described the teen as “the sweetest person that I’ve ever met.”

Grisby said she’s been in shock and “it doesn’t feel real.”

“Whoever did it is an extremely cruel person to be able to do that to somebody so sweet and innocent,” she said of Clyde.

According to Grisby, Wendy and her husband lived in the home with their son and daughter, and possibly others.

A neighbor told KTLA they noticed unusual activity at the home around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. They said the house was packed with people, all the lights were on.

The discovery of the bodies hours later drew a large law enforcement response to the quiet residential neighborhood.

Officers were seen speaking with neighbors overnight in an area cordoned off with police tape.

The deaths remain under investigation, and no further details were immediately available.

Family members set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral expenses.

Authorities are expected to release more information about the killings at a 3 p.m. news conference Friday.

KTLA's Cindy Von Quednow and Erika Martin contributed to this story.

Authorities have identified a couple who are suspected of killing three women in a Hemet home earlier this week over a possible rental dispute.

Jordan Guzman and Anthony McCloud are shown in photos released by the Hemet Police Department on Feb. 21, 2020.

Jordan Guzman, 20, who lived in the home with the victims, and her 18-year-old boyfriend Anthony McCloud, were arrested in Las Vegas and are expected to be extradited back to Riverside County.

Hemet police discovered the bodies of three women inside a home in the 1400 block of Rabbit Peak Way about 9 p.m. Wednesday after receiving a report of a "female laying in a pool of blood."

They were identified as Wendy Lopez-Araiza, 46 and Genesis Lopez-Araiza, 21 and Trinity Clyde, 18.

During a news conference Friday, Hemet Police Chief Eddie Pust said there was evidence the victims suffered blunt force trauma and strangulation. He did not elaborate on how the victims were killed, but indicated that no firearms were used.

Wendy Lopez-Araiza's husband returned home and discovered one of the bodies. The two suspects then ran from the home, got into Clyde's car and drove off, Pust said.

From left to right, Genesis Lopez-Araiza, Trinity Clyde and Wendy Lopez-Araiza are shown in undated photos.

The two additional bodies were discovered only after officers arrived at the scene, the chief added.

Guzman had recently moved into the home and investigators believe there was some kind of dispute over the renting situation, pointing to a possible motive in the attack, officials said. McCloud had also visited his girlfriend before the killings.

Loved ones told KTLA Friday that the family was having issues with Guzman and were trying to get her to move out.

A man who was at the scene Thursday and identified himself as Clyde's father said his daughter was also renting a room at the home and did not understand why she was killed.

Information led investigators to Las Vegas, and Guzman and McCloud were taken into custody Thursday as they were leaving an apartment in the 1400 block of Charleston Boulevard. Clyde's stolen Hyundai Sonata was also recovered and secured as evidence.

Police do not believe anyone else was involved in the killings.

The suspects expected to be booked on three counts each of murder and are being held on $2 million bail, Pust said.

The chief called the crime "egregious."

"It’s a tragic, horrific incident that’s going to stay in the minds of the family members and friends forever,” he said.

GoFundMe campaigns have been set up to raise money for Clyde's and the Lopez-Araizas' memorials.

Authorities arrested a Hemet man on suspicion of murder Wednesday, officials said.

Hyder Mahdi Jaffer, 51, was arrested in connection with the killing of Inder Jit, 63, who died from a stab wound to the chest in December, the Hemet Police Department said.

On Dec. 30, authorities responded to the 1300 block of East Oakland Avenue for a medical aid, according to the department.

They arrived to find an unresponsive man, later identified as Jit, inside a vehicle suffering from a stab wound to the chest, police said. Jit died at the scene, according to officials.

Investigators interviewed a person of interest the day after the incident, and later issued an arrest warrant for Jaffer, police said.

At about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, investigators arrested Jaffer on the same block where the homicide occurred in December. He is being charged with second-degree murder, county booking records show.

It was not immediately clear what the relationship between the suspect and the victim was.

Jaffer is being held at a Riverside County detention center on $1 million bail.

A police SWAT team arrested a parolee in Hemet Sunday morning in connection with the fatal shooting of another man in Pomona on Saturday afternoon, officials said.

Raymond Leonard Rice, 31, of Hemet is accused of murder for the killing of a 29-year-old Pomona man, which took place about 5:30 p.m. at La Verne and Las Vefas avenues, according to Pomona Police Department Iain Miller.

The victim’s name was not released pending notification of kin by coroners offiicals.

He was brought to a local hospital by a family member after being shot, the sergeant said in a written statement.

“Unfortunately, the victim succumbed to his wounds at the hospital,” he said.

Detectives quickly identified Rice as a suspect in the deadly shooting and learned he was at a home in Hemet, officials said. A Pomona police SWAT team served a warrant at the home early Sunday and took Rice into custody.

No information regarding a motive for the shooting was released.

Rice was being held without bail due to a parole hold pending his initial court appearance, scheduled Tuesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, booking records show.

Anyone with information was asked to contact Pomona police at 909-620-2085. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

An airplane crashed Thursday in a mountainous area east of Hemet, killing the pilot, authorities said.

The twin-engine Piper PA23 went down in southwest Riverside County shortly before 12:30 p.m southeast of Hemet, said Ian Gregor of the Federal Aviation Administration.

The pilot was believed to be the only person aboard, Gregor said.

The pilot’s name wasn’t immediately released.

A brush fire broke out at the crash site but was quickly contained, fire officials said.

There was no immediate word on where the plane took off or where it was heading, although the Hemet-Ryan Airport is a few miles from the crash site.

The cause of the crash was under investigation.

A homicide investigation is underway after two people were found dead inside a Hemet home, officials said Tuesday.

Police responded to a single family home in the 5000 block of Corte Cerro around 10:45 p.m. Monday for a welfare check after reports that the occupants had not been heard from recently, the Hemet Police Department said.

While conducting the welfare check, officers entered the home after getting no response at the door, according to the department. Once inside, they found two adults dead on the floor.

Police determined that the deceased couple, a male in his 70s and a female in her 60s, were victims of homicide.

There was no one else in the home at the time, but investigators learned that an adult son in his 40s also lived there but had not been found yet.

“Investigators would like to speak with the male and are hopeful he will make contact with them shortly,” the department said in a written statement.

The names of the victims were not yet released, pending notification of family.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the department at 951-765-2400.