Cloned IID truck for immigrant stash house and Maricopa County audit
Rewind through the week with some of our top picks
IMPERIAL, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - To start off this week's rewind session, these new details in connection with the deadly March 2 crash, deserve an honorable mention.
The U.S. District Attorney's (USDA) Office announced the arrest of Mexicali resident 47-year-old Jose Cruz Noguez.
A federal judge on Tuesday charged Noguez with conspiracy to transport illegal migrants causing serious bodily harm, and with human smuggling for financial gain.
The conspiracy charge, all on its own, carries a maximum 20-year sentence.
El Centro Sector Border Patrol is currently investigating a smuggling operation within the city of Imperial. Agents say they received a tip that led them to the discovery.
Upon further investigation, agents found a cloned Imperial Irrigation District (IID) truck that was being used to smuggle in people just East of the Calexico port of entry.
The faux IID truck served as the perfect disguise to smuggle undocumented immigrants in plain sight.
Police, family and friends are searching for Derek Runnion, whom has been missing since Wednesday, March 24. Runnion's dad says he was going to meet someone to fix his car at Walmart. He was supposed to return Thursday morning, but never came back.
If you see Derek or have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Yuma Police Department at 78-CRIME.
In a statement, Arizona Senate Leadership said it has "hired a team of independent auditors to complete a comprehensive, full forensic audit of the 2020 election in Maricopa County." The audit will also include a hand recount of all ballots.
News 11's Adonis Albright spoke with local politicians to get their take on the election audit.
Rep. Charlene Fernandez (D - Ariz.), who represents Yuma County, said she doesn't see the point in re-litigating an election that's already been certified.
Rep. Tim Dunn (R - Ariz.) says although previous audits in Maricopa County have come up short, he wants to make sure each and every ballot was verified. In the previous three audits, Dunn notes only a portion of the total ballots were audited.
Four companies have been hired on to conduct an independent audit of Maricopa County's election results from November's general election.
Cinemark Theatres is reopening its Century Imperial Valley Mall 14 theatre location in El Centro.
The reopening event is a week-long premiere celebration. In addition to contactless ticketing, the theatre provides ample cleaning supplies for guests to use such as seat wipes and hand sanitizer.
Masks are required at all times while in the building except for when eating or drinking. Seating arrangements are set up to block off surrounding seats of those already purchased to ensure social distancing.
The death tolls for California and Arizona inch even closer to 60 thousand and 17 thousand, respectively.
Collectively, Imperial and Yuma counties have experienced 1,532 deaths. The two counties have also documented over 62-thousand cases.
Imperial County makes up 0.3% of California's vaccines administered, whereas Yuma County accounts for just over 2.8% of Arizona's total.
