Advertising Executive Ordered To Stand Trial In Coachella Valley Woman's Death

COACHELLA VALLEY, CA — A 44-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 must stand trial for hit-and-run causing permanent injury or death, as well as other charges, a judge ruled Monday.

William Frank Rodriguez was arrested last October following a Cathedral City Police Department investigation.

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At the end of a preliminary hearing Monday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Ryan found there was sufficient evidence to bound Rodriguez over for trial on the hit-and-run count, along with driving on a suspended or revoked driver's license stemming from a prior DUI conviction and a sentence- enhancing allegation of inflicting great bodily injury or death.

The judge dismissed a second-degree murder charge originally filed by prosecutors. He scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Sept. 15 at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.

Rodriguez is free on a $2 million bond.

According to police, on the night of last Oct. 9, the defendant, who is 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 area, police alleged, adding that all of the activity was captured on security surveillance video cameras.

Court papers said that Rodriguez steered a course for home shortly before 1 a.m. on Oct. 10, allegedly pushing his sports car 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, police said.

Witnesses called 911, and first responders found Barrington unconscious with major injuries near the intersection, her injured dog nearby. The woman was taken to a regional trauma center, where she died the following day.

The canine was last reported in recovery with the victim's relatives.

"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.

That weekend, the defendant took off for Las Vegas, 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."