A 43-year-old Coachella Valley advertising executive accused of fatally hitting a Cathedral City woman riding her scooter with her small dog aboard while he was drunk at the wheel was slated to make his initial court appearance Wednesday.
William Frank Rodriguez of Palm Springs was arrested and booked into the Benoit Detention Center in Indio on Monday after he was formally charged with murder, hit-and-run resulting in great bodily injury and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended or revoked driver’s license stemming from a previous DUI conviction.
Rodriguez, who is being held without bail, was scheduled to appear before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini at the Larson Justice Center on Wednesday afternoon. The defendant may be arraigned, or may only be appointed an attorney, with arraignment set at a later date. He is additionally expected to request a bail reduction hearing.
According to the Cathedral City Police Department, on Thursday night, Rodriguez, who is the founder of Silvercrest Advertising, attended a concert at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, where he ordered a bottle of vodka and proceeded to consume it with four or five friends.
In a bail-setting affidavit, investigators described how after the show, Rodriguez headed to Quadaz bar in Palm Springs, “where he consumed an unknown number of alcoholic drinks.”
As the night dragged on, he left Quadaz’s and walked to another bar nearby, Dick’s on Arenas, ordering several additional alcoholic beverages, consuming them, then “stumbling” out of the pub and going to his Porsche Cayenne parked in the immediate area, all of which was captured on security surveillance video, police alleged.
Court papers said Rodriguez steered a course for home shortly before 1 a.m. Friday, allegedly pushing his sports car’s speed up to 65 mph in a 45 mph zone along East Palm Canyon Drive.
Christina Barrington, 60, of Cathedral City was riding her scooter, carrying her pet terrier with her, at or below the speed limit on East Palm Canyon when the defendant allegedly swerved out of his lane and into hers, plowing into the victim, who was hurled onto the roadway with her dog, then “dragging the scooter 1,400 feet before making a sudden turn that dislodged” it from the Porsche, according to the affidavit.
Rodriguez went home and parked the car in his driveway, according to police.
Witnesses called 911, and first responders found Barrington unconscious with major injuries near the intersection, with her injured dog nearby. The woman was taken to a regional trauma center, where she died the following day.
The canine is recovering under the care of the victim’s relatives, police said.
“Rodriguez never reported this collision, even after police impounded the vehicle, though he reported to a coworker that his vehicle was stolen and wrecked,” the affidavit stated.
The defendant took off for Las Vegas over the weekend, where security surveillance cameras in a casino captured him with “alcoholic drinks … including a glass of champagne he appeared to be toasting with,” the narrative said.
“Rodriguez has a 2013 DUI conviction out of Los Angeles County,” according to the affidavit. “He was given a Watson Advisement by the court when he was convicted (noting he could face severe penalties for causing injury or death while driving under the influence in the future). His license was suspended. His privilege to drive a motor vehicle has never been reinstated.”
A no-bail hold was requested of the court because the defendant is known to have “access to large amounts of liquid or near-liquid funds,” documents said, adding that the defendant travels internationally on a regular basis, particularly to Europe and the Middle East.