23-05-2025
Man guilty of all charges in 2023 DUI crash on E Belle Terrace that killed passenger
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — The driver of a Dodge Charger that overturned on East Belle Terrace, killing a passenger, has been found guilty of all charges, including gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated.
Court records show Cristian Escobar-Rodriguez was convicted Thursday of the manslaughter charge, two counts of DUI causing injury and driving without a license for the single-vehicle crash just east of Bunting Drive which killed a woman and injured three other occupants, including himself.
Sentencing is set for July 1.
At about 1:50 a.m. on April 3, 2023, California Highway Patrol officers responded to the crash scene and found a black Dodge Charger lying on the driver's side with four people inside.
A 30-year-old woman in the back seat was pronounced dead at the scene.
Escobar-Rodriguez was seated in the driver's seat, reports say. Removed from the car and placed on a stretcher, Rodriguez said, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry,' according to court documents.
An officer noticed an 'overwhelming' odor of alcohol coming from Escobar-Rodriguez, and that his eyes were red and watery, documents said.
Interviewed at Kern Medical, Escobar-Rodriguez told an investigator he'd been driving 60 mph and failed to negotiate a curve in the road. He told an officer he'd drunk five Dos Equis beers.
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