A 52-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly committing two bank robberies, one in Riverside County and one in San Bernardino County, authorities said. On Dec. 6, deputies from the Jurupa Valley station responded to a report of an armed robbery at a bank in the 14000 block of Schleisman Road in Eastvale, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said Friday. Investigators later learned of a similar robbery that occurred on Jan. 4 in Chino Hills. Jurupa Valley investigators contacted investigators from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, and based on the two investigations, San ..read more

It could happen to anyone: rushing to leave a hotel room and leaving behind a valuable item in the midst of travel chaos. Fifteen-year-old Natalia from Chino Hills did just that. She left behind her favorite stuffed animal named Strawberry while she was traveling in Guatemala last month. “I was very sad,” said the teenager, who only wished to be identified by her first name. “We were rushing to leave the hotel room because our flight was canceled, and we had to figure out how to get to our next destination.” On the last day of her stay at the Westin Camino Real, she left behind the stuffed cow ..read more

The family of a Lake Elsinore couple who were among four people tragically killed in a wrong-way crash in Chino Hills over the weekend is mourning the loss of two loving parents. One of the couple’s last memories together was celebrating Gideon Mbatha’s 42nd birthday, planned by his wife Ruth. Just hours later, on their way home to Lake Elsinore, the couple was killed in a fiery wrong-way crash on the 71 freeway.  “It makes me very sad because they were celebrating – because they were looking into their future,” Horelia Kuria, Gideon Mbatha’s sister, said. Kuria said her brother was ..read more

Four people were killed on a Southern California freeway early Sunday in a fiery crash that authorities said was likely caused by a wrong-way driver.  The crash was reported before 3 a.m. on the southbound 71 Freeway near Central Avenue in Chino Hills. Four people died at the scene in southwest San Bernardino County. According to police, the crash involved three vehicles. They say an unidentified driver was driving a white 2021 Volvo S60 going northbound on the southbound 71 Freeway lanes. The vehicle was also occupied by an unidentified passenger as well. It is unknown what speed the dri ..read more

A woman recently escaped from a Chino Hills home where she had been held captive for months, and now the owner of the home has been arrested and is facing multiple felony charges, including disfigurement. New disturbing details in the kidnapping and torture case in Chino Hills have emerged, including surveillance video showing San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies serving a search warrant last week at the home of Peter Anthony McGuire. Some neighbors say he kept a very low profile. “I’ve lived here 24 years. I’ve seen him only once or twice and it’s always in the evening,” Jerry Napoli said ..read more

A Chino Hills woman was killed when the motorcycle she was riding hit a metal guardrail and she was ejected from her bike at a freeway interchange in South El Monte, authorities said Monday. The crash was reported about 7:25 p.m. Saturday on the transition from the westbound Pomona (60) Freeway to the northbound San Gabriel River (605) Freeway, according to the California Highway Patrol. The motorcyclist identified as 32-year-old Candace Ostler crashed a 2019 Harley Davidson into a guardrail and was ejected, the CHP said. Ostler and the motorcycle came to rest in the number 5 northbound lane o ..read more

An off-duty Chino Hills deputy and group of good Samaritans helped pull a woman from a burning car in the middle of the freeway on Sunday. Deputy Justin Reed was heading into work on the 60 Freeway when he spotted the wreckage of a mangled car. Nmesoma “Soma” Robert had just collided with another car on the 60 freeway in Riverside. Reed and a group of good Samaritans pulled Robert from the smoking car minutes before it burst completely into flames. Robert said she was very panicked as she watched the back of the vehicle go up in flames. “If not for him, I wouldn’t be here with my family,” she ..read more

LaMelo Ball is thrilled to have a chance to play for the Charlotte Hornets. But the 6-foot-7 point guard is more excited to play for the one of the greatest basketball players of all time in Michael Jordan. “Man, straight blessing, for real,” Ball said of the six-time NBA champion and current Hornets owner. “I don’t even have enough words to say, I’m just blessed.” The Hornets selected Ball with the No. 3 pick in the NBA draft, giving Jordan’s team a player with immediate notoriety and a rookie who can help put fans in the seats once the coronavirus subsides. Ball has amassed more than 5.6 mil ..read more

LaVar Ball is pulling his 16-year-old son LaMelo out of his Southern California high school to be home schooled and so he can be made into “the best basketball player ever.” LaVar told The Los Angeles Times that LaMelo, a junior, will leave Chino Hills High School on Tuesday so he will have fewer distractions and better focus. LaMelo is considered one of the nation’s top high school recruits and has committed to play at UCLA, where his brother Lonzo played last season. Lonzo is now a rookie with the Los Angeles Lakers and their brother, LiAngelo, will be a freshman at UCLA. LaMelo, who scored ..read more

A 34-year-old man who posed as a law enforcement officer has been convicted of kidnapping a woman outside a Fullerton nightclub and sexually assaulting her, prosecutors announced. Nelson Mauricio Lunaty Garcia of Chino Hills was convicted Tuesday in Superior Court in Santa Ana and faces a maximum sentence of 95 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 27, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Garcia had been accused of approaching the victim late on Sept. 2, 2015 in the parking lot of the InCahoots nightclub in the 1400 block of South Lemon Street and leading ..read more