1 arrested, others sought for racist graffiti at Anza school

By City News Service

A33-year-old homeless man suspected of starting a small brush fire in Palm Springs last week was charged Thursday with one felony count of arson to a non-dwelling.

Anthony Cordero, a homeless man residing in Palm Springs, was set to be arraigned Thursday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

Officers responded around 5:40 p.m. April 10 to the Prescott Preserve, near the 1000 block of South El Cielo Road, to a report of an active fire, according to the Palm Springs Police Department.

“When officers arrived at the scene, they were provided a description of a subject in the area who allegedly may have started the fire,” police said in a statement. “The Palm Springs Fire Department responded to the scene, and they were able to extinguish a small, isolated brush fire.”

Cordero, who matched the description provided by a witness, was subsequently found and arrested in the area, according to police. He was booked into the John J. Benoit Detention Center in Indio, where he remains held on $35,000 bail, according to inmate records. According to court records, Cordero has one prior felony conviction of burglary from July, for which he was serving two years of formal probation.

Anyone with information about Monday’s fire was asked to call the police department’s investigations division at 760-323-8121 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 760-347-7867.

Riverside County sheriff’s investigators Wednesday were attempting to identify two people who joined a 17-year-old boy in allegedly marking up an Anza elementary school with racist graffiti.

According to sheriff’s officials, the vandalism occurred about 10:30 p.m. April 4 at Hamilton Elementary School at 57550 Mitchell Road.

The graffiti was discovered the following morning when staff arrived for a special teaching session involving less than a dozen students while the campus was on spring break, officials said.

The specific words painted on the building were not disclosed, though according to a sheriff’s statement, they were “graphic.”

A possible motive, outside of racist expressions, was not mentioned.

Investigators said security surveillance video from the location was obtained, culminating in one of the suspects, a Ventura boy, being identified. He was arrested and booked into Riverside Juvenile Hall Monday on suspicion of making criminal threats and felony vandalism. The youth was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

His alleged cohorts’ identities remain unknown. However, detectives are continuing to follow up leads, officials said.

Anyone with information was asked to contact the sheriff’s Hemet station at 951-791-3400.

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