Hit-And-Run Suspect To Appear In Court

A hearing is set today to determine whether there is enough evidence for a 50-year-old man to stand trial on charges stemming from the hit-and-run death of a pedestrian in Desert Hot Springs.

Ronald Andrew Nelson Jr. of Desert Hot Springs faces two felony charges – – gross vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run resulting in death — along with a misdemeanor count of driving with a suspended license.

Nelson is suspected of ramming into Roger Mason Pace Oct. 20 on Palm Drive south of Hacienda Avenue in Desert Hot Springs.

Pace, 49, died two days later at a hospital, according to Sgt. Dan Bressler of the Desert Hot Springs Police Department.

Pace was crossing Palm Drive outside a crosswalk “in an extremely unsafe place for a pedestrian to be” when he was hit, according to police.

Nelson told police he panicked and drove off because he was uninsured and his driver’s license was suspended, Bressler said.

Detectives also determined that Nelson is nearly blind in one eye and allegedly had been traveling at an unsafe speed, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

He is being held in lieu of $150,000 at the Indio Jail.