A man from a Detroit suburb has been convicted for the Southern California portion of a string of two dozen burned semi trucks. Viorel Pricop, 66, of Allen Park, Michigan, was convicted on Tuesday of six counts of arson of vehicle or property in interstate commerce. Between December 2021 and September 2022, Pricop "maliciously set fire" to six semi truck trailers belonging to Phoenix-based Swift Transportation, four of which were in San Bernardino County and two of which were in Riverside County, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release. "In each of the incidents, the Swift-o ..read more

San Bernardino County deputies have seized more than 600 pounds of methamphetamine and 20 guns, the Sheriff's Department said in a news release. The seizures, which occurred from Feb. 10 through 16, are the latest in the ongoing Operation Consequences, which resulted in dozens of felony arrests and the discoveries of more than 120 guns and large quantities of narcotics in January and February, officials said ..read more

A Lucerne Valley man was arrested Tuesday in connection with a May 2022 killing and assault of ATV riders in the desert near Barstow. The May 3 attack in the 32400 block of Jiggs Road left 26-year-old Ivan Garcia dead from an apparent gunshot wound and injured a Phelan man. A third man, also from Phelan, reported the incident to law enforcement, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. On Tuesday, deputies located and arrested John Gallaher at a home in the 30500 block of Sutter Road. Gallaher was booked into the Central Detention Center and faces charges of murder, b ..read more

Authorities are investigating after the remains of three people were discovered in San Bernardino County. One person has been identified as Enrique Saltos Gallegos, 38, from Nuevo. The identities of the other two victims are currently unknown, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said. Deputies first received reports of human remains found on Nov. 18 in Kramer Junction, a remote area near Barstow. Gallegos was later identified as one of the victims. Authorities believe the other two victims may have been reported missing with Gallegos back in July 2022. Authorities are investigating ..read more

A Barstow man was arrested after being accused of molesting five former foster children, officials said Friday. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials began investigating 71-year-old Juan Antonio Esparza in June after allegations of sexual abuse came to light. Detectives eventually identified five former foster children as being victims of sexual abuse by Esparza, officials said. Additional evidence was obtained after Esparza was interviewed on Sept. 15 and he was subsequently arrested. He was booked on suspicion of lewd and lascivious acts on a child and oral copulation with a c ..read more

Five children in Barstow reported to police that they were tortured by their aunt and uncle in Rialto, and on Wednesday, the couple was arrested, according to the Rialto Police Department. The alleged abuse was reported to Rialto police in January after it surfaced in an August 2021 investigation by the Barstow Police Department, Rialto police said in a news release. The five minors, who range in age from 11 to 17, lived with their aunt and uncle in the 1000 block of East Jackson Street in Rialto for four years — 2017 to 2021 — during which time they were subjected to "various forms of physica ..read more

An active Army service member at Fort Irwin Military Base outside Barstow and her boyfriend are being accused of child abuse and torture after her 4-month-old son was hospitalized with burn and brain injuries, officials announced Friday. The unresponsive child was transported from Weed Army Community Hospital in Fort Irwin to Loma Linda University Medical Center on Monday. He had second and third-degree burns to his body and was suffering from a brain injury, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials said in a news release. Medical staff at the pediatric intensive care unit determin ..read more

A traffic stop in Barstow led to a sheriff’s deputy being fired at multiple times before the suspect took off on foot and was later arrested, authorities said Sunday. Antwon Rivers, 35, was taken into custody after allegedly running away while armed with a handgun when a deputy pulled him over in the 2800 block of Lenwood Road about 11:53 p.m. on Saturday, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department. “The deputy ordered Rivers to stop running and drop the weapon,” a news release from the department states. “Rivers ignored the deputy’s orders and turned and fired his handg ..read more

Prosecutors Thursday declined to charge four Barstow police officers who fatally shot a black man while he was at the wheel of a car, finding that they reasonably used deadly force to protect their lives when the vehicle clipped one of them. The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office has declined to charge four Barstow police officers who fatally shot Diante Yarber, above, on April 5. (Credit: S. Lee Merritt/Los Angeles Times) Diante Yarber, 26, was driving the black Ford Mustang in a Walmart parking lot when officers fired 30 rounds into the vehicle on April 5. His death received wi ..read more

A Barstow man who was shot eight times last week when he went to check on an elderly neighbor during a burglary died from his injuries at a hospital on Thanksgiving Day, his wife said. Patrick Smith, right, pictured with his wife and son in an undated photo provided by family members, was shot while checking on a neighbor during a burglary on Nov. 14, 2018. Patrick Smith, 41, succumbed to injuries he suffered in the Nov. 14 shooting in his neighborhood in the 800 block of Keith Street, wife Elizabeth Smith said. He also leaves behind a 5-year-old son. His alleged killer, identified by police a ..read more