Reporter

Brian Rokos

Brian Rokos has worked in newspapers since 1985, at the Mountain Democrat in Placerville, News Chronicle in Thousand Oaks, the Cincinnati Post, the Orange County Register and currently The Press-Enterprise/Southern California News Group. Among the major stories he has covered are destructive wildfires, Christopher Dorner's rampage, the San Bernardino terrorist attack, Chase Merritt murder trial and the Perris torture case.

Location: Riverside, California, USA

Children are seen handcuffed and apparently in federal detention in Los Angeles on July 11, 2025. An immigrants-rights group said the children were from Ventura County and were not accompanied by their parents. (Image from video posted on Reddit)

Children on video handcuffed in federal custody in LA; it’s ‘barbaric,’ immigrant-rights group says

July 14, 2025 at 7:16 a.m.

ICE did not immediately respond to questions about the detention filmed Friday at the Los Angeles Federal Building in LA.

A car-to-car shooting took place Tuesday, July 8, 2025 on the 210 Freeway between Pepper Ave and State St. (Google maps)

12-year-old shot in leg on 210 Freeway near San Bernardino; suspect arrested

July 10, 2025 at 3:06 p.m.

The victims said they were stumped as to why someone opened fire on them. License plate readers tracked the suspect's car to Victorville.

An image from the People Over Pages ICE-tracking website shows a report of what the poster believed was an ICE raid in Riverside. The activity at the McDonald’s on June 20, 2025, was actually an investigation by city police into an in-custody death. Many mistaken reports of ICE raids come as a result of misidentifications and concerns about deportation arrests, experts say. (Press-Enterprise photo)

Mistaken reports of ICE raids are stoking fear, troubling law enforcement in Southern California

July 8, 2025 at 2:58 p.m.

'Societal paranoia' is prompting people to see immigration enforcement where there is none, an expert says. Even Disneyland is not immune.

Caitlin Rother pored over thousands of pages of documents and previously unreleased police reports while researching her book, “Down to the Bone”. (Eduardo Contreras / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Book reveals new details on investigations into slayings of McStay family

June 30, 2025 at 7:06 a.m.

Author Caitlin Rother pored over thousands of pages of documents in the case of the slain Fallbrook family. Charles 'Chase' Merritt was convicted of murder.

Riverside Police Department Detective Cole Tuggle demonstrates how a drone with spotlights, a camera and a loudspeaker will catch people illegally lighting fireworks on July 4. Officials say they are deploying drones for the first time to try to prevent injuries and fires. (Photo by Terry Pierson, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)

For the first time on July 4th, drones will be used to catch illegal fireworks violators in some cities

June 27, 2025 at 1:39 p.m.

Riverside, Hemet and Brea are among the cities launching drones to film the offenses. Increasingly, property owners will be held liable for fines.

Spectators watch a Pivotal eVTOL, an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, demonstrate a landing at the San Bernardino County Fire Department fire camp on Monday, June 23, 2025. The aircraft, privately owned by pilot Tim Lum, will be used to help train paramedics for future emergency response in the county. (Photo by Anjali Sharif-Paul, The Sun/SCNG)

Flying paramedic unit could save lives in San Bernardino County

June 25, 2025 at 2:29 p.m.

A one-person, battery-powered ultralight could cut down response times to serious emergencies in rural areas.

Michael Royce Sparks, 62, enters the courtroom before the start of his preliminary hearing at the San Bernardino Justice Center, Monday, June 16, 2025. Sparks is accused of murdering and dismembering neighbors Daniel Menard, 79, and wife Stephanie Menard, 73, in Aug. 2024 where they all live at the Olive Dell Ranch nudist resort in Redlands. (Photo by John Valenzuela/Contributing Photographer)

Elderly couple at Redlands nudist resort were killed over a hot dog, detective testifies

June 19, 2025 at 1:18 p.m.

Michael Sparks is ordered held for trial in the deaths of Daniel and Stephanie Menard, who were bludgeoned and dismembered, prosecutors say.

A brush fire burns along the 5 Freeway in the Grapevine. (Courtesy of California Highway Patrol)

Brush fire along 5 Freeway on Grapevine in Kern County is halted

June 6, 2025 at 8:44 a.m.

The flames burned 220 acres west of the 5 after being ignited along the roadside.

Yucca Valley resident Thomas Eugene Streavel, 73, threatened the life of President Donald Trump in social media postings, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Streavel pleaded not guilty on June 3, 2025. (Bloomberg Finance LP)

Yucca Valley man accused of threatening Trump’s life in Facebook postings

June 3, 2025 at 6:31 p.m.

Thomas Eugene Streavel, 73, pleaded not guilty to three felony counts. His brother says Streavel would not have acted on them.

Yonatan Angel Loaeza, shown in a 2024 booking photo, is being sought in connection with the burglaries of at least four homes in Irvine. Police say Loaeza is a member of a transnational burglary ring. (Courtesy of Irvine Police Department)

Irvine police hunting for suspect from Anaheim in home burglary spree

May 24, 2025 at 7:45 p.m.

Yonatan Angel Loaeza, 34, is a member of a transnational burglary ring that has targeted homes throughout the country, police said.

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