San Diego Detective Pleads Not Guilty In Palm Desert DUI Case

A San Diego County sheriff’s detective pleaded not guilty today to drunken driving and hit-and-run charges stemming from two crashes in Palm Desert.

Barbara Jean Crozier, 48, faces one count of injury hit-and-run and two counts of injury DUI — all felonies — and four misdemeanor counts of DUI and hit-and-run property damage.

Crozier, who is free on a $50,000 bail bond, appeared for her arraignment this morning at the Larson Justice Center dressed in a business suit and accompanied by an attorney. She answered yes when Riverside County Superior Court Judge Victoria Cameron asked her if she understood her rights.

The charges against Crozier were filed by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office Tuesday. Crozier is due back in court Dec. 8 for a felony settlement conference.

Witnesses told Riverside County sheriff’s deputies that a vehicle with a woman behind the wheel struck several parked cars and ran over a pedestrian’s foot at an apartment complex parking lot at Fred Waring Drive and Town Center Way on Aug. 30. The witness gave investigators a description of the vehicle and its license plate number, said sheriff’s Sgt. Joe Borja.

Later that night, deputies received a call that a vehicle had crashed into a water fountain at the entrance of the Marrakesh Country Club at 47-000 Marrakesh Drive. The license plate of the vehicle matched the one from the hit- and-run, Borja said.

Crozier was arrested and booked at the Indio jail on suspicion of hit- and-run and driving while intoxicated, Borja said. She posted bail Sept. 6, according to court records.

The detective works out of the Santee substation, a representative from the San Diego County sheriff’s personnel department confirmed in September. Officials declined to disclose Crozier’s current employment status.

“San Diego Sheriff’s Department policy is that when an employee is arrested, an internal affairs investigation is initiated,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Melissa Aquino told City News Service via email. “Personnel records of peace officers are confidential under Penal Code 832.7, and as such the Sheriff’s Department cannot comment on internal investigations relating to peace officers.”