Crime & Safety

Detective Accused In DUI Crash Pleads Not Guilty

Barbara Crozier allegedly ran over the foot of a pedestrian trying to stop her from fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run crash, court documents show.

A San Diego County sheriff’s deputy -- who is accused of driving drunk when she clipped several vehicles and ran over a pedestrian’s foot -- had alcohol, an antidepressant and sleep medication in her system, documents obtained by Patch show.

Barbara Jean Crozier, a 48-year-old detective out of the Santee substation, pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of one county of injury hit-and-run and two counts of injury DUI -- all felonies -- and four misdemeanor counts of DUI and hit-and-run, causing property damage.

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Victoria Cameron ordered Crozier to return to court on Dec. 8 for a felony settlement conference, and allowed her to remain free on $50,000 bail. The judge would not allow media to photograph her face, citing an "identification issue."

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According to court documents, Crozier had up to .10 percent of alcohol in her blood during the series of crashes in Palm Desert on Aug. 30, as well as Paxil, an antidepressant and anti-anxiety medication, and Ambien, a sleep medication.

Crozier was arrested following a crash into a water fountain at the Marrakesh Country Club, 47-000 Marrakesh Drive, about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30.

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Deputies investigating that crash matched the vehicle description and license plate number to a vehicle that had earlier in the evening careened through an apartment complex and clipped a number of vehicles, running over a man’s foot in the process, according to sheriff's Sgt. Joe Borja.

‘Identification issue’

Crozier’s San Diego-based attorney, James M. Bishop, said outside of court that he asked the judge to bar the media from photographing his client’s face for a reason.

“There could be an identification issue,” Bishop said, refusing to elaborate or answer any other questions about the case.

This is not the first time Crozier’s image has been difficult to release to the public. Investigators took to release her booking photo from the Indio Jail following her arrest.

In court documents, the injured pedestrian was able to identify Crozier near the scene of the crash.

“As he was running along the driver’s side, he began banging on the driver’s side window with his hand, in an attempt to get the driver’s attention,” according to the documents, which were prepared by Riverside County sheriff’s Investigator J. Alderson.

The detective wrote that “the vehicle turned toward him and in doing so, ran over his left foot with the driver’s side front tire,” adding that the man clearly saw the driver through the window.

About 15 minutes later, deputies received a report of a SUV crashing into a fountain on Marrakesh Drive, Alderson wrote, and the vehicle matched the description of the earlier hit-and-run crash.

The investigator said the victim was brought over for an “in-field identification” of Crozier, who he identified as the driver who struck him.


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