A female pedestrian was struck and killed March 4 in a Palm Desert, California accident, and a suspected drunken driver was subsequently charged with homicide, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said in a news release.
"This is an ongoing investigation," Sgt. Shaun Griffith said in the release, but the suspect has been identified as Cameron Curtis, 31, of Palm Desert. He was booked into the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio.
"Intoxication appears to have played a role in this collision," Griffith said, adding that Curtis was detained at the scene.
Shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday, deputies from the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station responded to the traffic accident at Calliandra Street, east of Alamo Drive, Griffith said. Upon arrival, deputies determined a gray Nissan Frontier traveling east on Calliandra Street collided with a female pedestrian walking along Calliandra Street.
The female was pronounced dead at the scene, but has yet to be identified to the public.
Because this was a fatal accident, the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station traffic team conducted the on-scene investigation, which determined the Nissan was traveling eastbound on Calliandra at an unknown speed when it struck the pedestrian.
As the traffic team examined the evidence, Calliandra was shut down, temporarily, between Alamo Drive and Heliotrope Drive, the release said.
Eyewitnesses can help by providing information on the crash to deputy Paige Broughton of the Palm Desert Station at 760-836-1600. Anonymous information can be reported at 800-782-7463 or 800-473-7847.