The death of an inmate at Salinas Valley State Prison is being investigated as a homicide. 

What began as a family dispute and turned violent took a deadly turn after family members called the police on Monday, Dec. 19. 

Three separate calls reporting an active shooter led to lockdowns at three schools in Salinas on the afternoon of Tuesday, Nov. 1. Police found no evidence of a shooter in any of the three incidents, and officials are treating the calls as a hoax, known as swatting. 

A massive illegal cannabis operation was hidden on what appeared to be a berry farm in North Monterey County, alleges Monterey County District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni.  

A prisoner was allegedly attacked and killed by a younger inmate inside of Salinas Valley State Prison in Soledad, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials who are investigating the Wednesday, Aug. 3 death as a homicide.

Salinas Police detectives and members of the SPD's Violence Suppression Task Force arrested Jacob Bustamante, 22, in connection with the murder of Faith Elizabeth Valenzuela, 29. Valenzuela was the cheer coach at Everett Alvarez High School in Salinas. 

The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office announced murder charges on Thursday afternoon, July 7, in a 40-year cold case for the murder of Anne Pham. Pham was a 5-year-old Seaside resident who was kidnapped while walking to her kindergarten class at Highland Elementary School on Jan. 21…

Early in the morning on Tuesday, July 5, Marina police were leaving Natividad Medical Center when they saw a one-vehicle collision at the intersection of Natividad Road and Lunsford Drive, a few blocks away from the hospital. 

A suspect who allegedly shot at sheriff's deputies while they were serving him an eviction notice in Seaside Thursday morning, May 26, surrendered to law enforcement officers around 1:50pm and has been taken into custody by the Monterey County Sheriff's Office to be booked at the county jail.

Three adult men still in their teens from Carmel and Monterey are suspects in distributing deadly fentanyl to high school students on the Monterey Peninsula, including in at least two cases where students accidentally overdosed and survived, U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds and Drug Enforcem…

San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge Craig van Rooyen announced Wednesday, April 20 that the trial of Paul Flores for the murder of Kristin Smart will move to Monterey County.

Around 3pm last week, Grant Leonard, an affordable housing analyst for the city of Monterey and a candidate to become County Supervisor for District 2, called Eric Tynan, general manager of the Castroville Community Services District, and shared some bad news: the "Welcome to Castroville" si…

Just past midnight on Saturday, March 19, Monterey Police responded to a report of threats, and in their investigation, established that Shane Jones, a 28-year-old Seaside resident, had gotten into an argument with his ex-wife. Then things went off the rails. 

The Salinas Police Department and its Violence Suppression Task Force, responsible for investigating gang activity in the city, seized 65,500 fentanyl pills during Operation Angel. Police announced the results of their month-long investigation in a press conference on Wednesday, Jan. 25, and…

In the predawn hours on Thursday, Dec. 9, before a Burger King in Seaside had opened its doors to customers but workers were getting ready for the day, a masked man armed with a handgun entered the restaurant around 5am looking for cash. Police say he was wearing a ski mask covering his face…

Antonio Jose Cruz, 35, didn't succeed in his Nov. 17 attempt to escape from Monterey County Jail, but he did make it onto the roof. 

The Monterey County District Attorney’s office announced Friday, Nov. 5 that Juan Govea, a 40-year-old former biology teacher at Salinas High, pleaded no contest to two felonies involving sex acts with a minor. 

Salinas Police on Nov. 4 arrested a staff member at El Sausal Middle School after conducting an investigation that led them to believe an adult had inappropriate physical contact with a student at the school.

A 19-year-old woman from Carmel was shot dead after a Halloween party in Sacramento. Her boyfriend, a 20-year-old member of the U.S. Air Force, was present at the location, and arrested for accessory to murder, although he has not been charged. A 21-year-old woman and her 27-year-old brother…

The early-morning hours of Tuesday, Oct. 5 were disrupted by gunshots in North Salinas, near the El Gabilan Library. A shooting at about 1:45am left a 19-year-old man dead at the scene; Salinas Police officers responded to the 200 block of Chaparral Street just off North Main Street, based o…

A five-month-long investigation by the Salinas Police Department's investigations unit, Monterey County District Attorney's Office and a host of other agencies, involving 170 law enforcement personnel in total, led to the arrest of eight suspects in one of the largest drug busts in Monterey …

The concept was a virtuous one: provide in-home respite to families with children who have special needs, and provide in-school aides for children with special needs. 

In June, two days before he was scheduled to be released from Salinas Valley State Prison at the end of an eight-year sentence, Thomas Pollacci learned he would face another hearing before walking free. He was transported to Monterey County Jail in anticipation of a hearing on a petition fil…

In a span of five days, two separate shooting incidents occurred in Seaside that damaged a combined 13 vehicles. As of Aug. 5, Seaside Police believe them to be unrelated. 

It started out routinely enough. At around 10:30am on Tuesday, May 11, Monterey Police detectives observed a white BMW with stolen license plates parked on Alcalde Avenue off North Fremont, and a man and a woman who were removing belongings from the car.

Monterey County sheriff's deputies and the North County Fire Protection District responded to a structure fire in Prunedale on Monday afternoon, April 12, after receiving multiple calls.  

It took a blown stop sign and a suspicious lane change for tipsters to alert the Monterey Police Department on the evening of Sunday, March 28 that the man driving the John Deere 410J tractor on Del Monte Avenue near Wharf 2 possibly should not be driving the tractor.

On Thursday, Oct. 1, the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office announced they had arrested one of their own after conducting an investigation about an alleged sexual assault.

Saturday, June 6, was already a day of heightened tension and grief for Monterey police officers. They were among the many agencies from nearby regions that received a call around 3:10pm to respond to Ben Lomond, in Santa Cruz County, to support the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Department as deputie…

A 21-year-old Salinas man suspected of attacking a 61-year-old Carmel woman on May 4 surrendered himself to the Salinas Police Department on Thursday, May 7, the Carmel Police Department has announced.

A 61-year-old Carmel woman was violently assaulted in her driveway around 7am on Monday, May 4, Carmel Police Chief Paul Tomasi reported on Tuesday. The woman is recovering from her injuries.

The 18-year-old man arrested on Feb. 9 on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the fentanyl overdose death of 16-year-old Seaside resident Perla Velasco-Cruz will remain in custody as he awaits future hearings, a judge ruled on Feb. 14.

The death of 16-year-old Perla Velasco in October after she took a pill laced with the deadly synthetic drug fentanyl sent shockwaves through her family, local medical professionals and law enforcement, prompting a major push to prevent more overdoses and deaths in the months that followed.

Adrienne Lara, a Greenfield High School teacher, was arrested on Tuesday, Feb. 4, by Greenfield police and booked into Monterey County Jail on charges of forgery, embezzlement, theft of public funds and altering medical records.

Prosecutors dropped a slew of new charges on the man suspected of slingshotting glass marbles at vehicles traveling along Highway 101, including allegations that he assaulted two California Highway Patrol officers just months after the attacks began.

On the Facebook page dedicated to discussing the projectile attacks that have for months terrorized drivers traveling along Highway 101 through Prunedale, there was a sense of relief at the news that the California Highway Patrol had arrested and charged a suspect.

The person or persons responsible for hurling projectiles at vehicles along Highway 101 in the Prunedale area took a brief break over the week of Christmas, but now appears to be back in business. The 65th reported incident took place on Dec. 27, with two more incidents reported on Dec. 30, …

As if sitting in bumper to bumper traffic on Highway 101 the day before Thanksgiving isn't bad enough, holiday travelers on the biggest travel day of the year also have to contend with thunderstorms and a mystery person (or persons) who's been hurling projectiles at vehicles along a stretch …

Two men have pleaded guilty to federal charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in connection to their task as enforcers of Nuestra Familia gang rules while they were inmates in Monterey County Jail.