Charges dropped against Bluffton DUI suspect

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Josh George (Source: WTOC archives)

By Jaime Dailey - bio | email

BLUFFTON, SC (WTOC) - Charges have been dropped against a man charged in a hit-and-run accident that killed a Bluffton High School student last year.

Juan Rodriquez, also known as Juan Roman, was charged with felony DUI and leaving the scene of an accident after the May 18, 2008 wreck that killed 17-year-old Josh George.

George was on his way home from prom when his pickup truck was hit by another vehicle at the intersection of Bluffton Parkway and Buck Island Road.

The teen was ejected from the pickup and air lifted by emergency crews to Memorial University Medical Center where he later died from his injuries.

Police say the driver of the vehicle that hit George's pickup took off after the wreck.

Officers tracked him down to a home a few miles away and two witnesses at the home said Rodriquez was the driver.

One even admitted to being a passenger in the vehicle and said Rodriquez was driving. Officials say Rodriquez was living with eight to ten other people at the time of the incident.

Police also found two beer cans in Rodriquez's vehicle. He was arrested and charged with felony DUI and leaving the scene of an accident.

Solicitor Duffie Stone announced Thursday that those charges would be dropped because of a lack of evidence in the case.

He said the DNA found on the beer cans did not match Rodriquez and that two witnesses interviewed by police the night of the accident have left town.

With his witnesses gone and no DNA evidence, Stone said it was a tough decision but he had to drop to the charges.

"I have children. I can't imagine what Mrs. George is going through, what family members are going through," said Stone. "But I have never walked into a court room and prosecuted someone that I didn't believe is guilty and the evidence we have right now does not show Juan Rodriguez is guilty."

"We can not at this point reconcile our physical evidence outside the car of the scene of the crash," said Bluffton Police chief David McAllister.

"It in fact shows there was two other people in that car and that the closest evidence we have to the driver's seat is someone other than Rodriguez," said Stone.

Police don't know who was really at the wheel at the time of the wreck or who else was in the car.

Rodriquez however will remain in the Beaufort County Detention Center on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold. Officials say Rodriquez is an illegal immigrant.