Palm Desert High School coach charged with murder in deadly crash
A Palm Desert High School teacher and football coach was charged with murder today after he allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian while intoxicated over the weekend.
Cameron Francis Curtis, 31, of Palm Desert additionally faces a sentence enhancing allegation of great bodily injury, according to court records.
He's set to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon at the Larson Justice Center in Indio.
The crash was reported at 6:09 p.m. Saturday at Calliandra Street and Alamo Drive, according to the Riverside County Fire Department.
A gray Nissan Frontier going eastbound on Calliandra at an unknown speed struck a woman who was walking along the street, according to Sgt. Shaun Griffith of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
"Intoxication appears to have played a role in this collision,'' Griffith said.
Curtis was detained at the scene and subsequently booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, where he remains held on $1 million bail.
The sheriff's Palm Desert station urged anyone with information regarding the crash to call them at 760-836-1600. Tipsters can call Crime Stoppers at 800-782-7463 or 800-473-7847.
