Murder Charge Filed Against Driver Accused In Palm Springs Crash

Palm Desert CA

30 December, 2021

1:27 PM

Description

PALM SPRINGS, CA — A 41-year-old man accused of causing a multi-vehicle crash in downtown Palm Springs that left one person dead and six others injured pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder and DUI charges. Andrew Watson Hibbard of Portland, Oregon, was arrested Monday following the multiple crashes around 5 p.m. at the intersection of North Palm Canyon Drive and Alejo Road, according to the Palm Springs Police Department. The Riverside County District Attorney's Office on Thursday charged Hibbard with one felony count each of murder and DUI causing bodily injury as well as sentence-enhancing allegations of injuring multiple victims. Hibbard appeared at the Larson Justice Center later Thursday and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was subsequently scheduled for a felony settlement conference on Feb. 16. He remains held on $2 million bail at the John Benoit Detention Center in Indio. According to Police Chief Andy Mills, Hibbard "collided with three different cars and sent at least seven people to the hospital." Mills said one of the seven was pronounced dead at the hospital, and another person had "major injuries." The Riverside County Sheriff's Department's Coroner's Bureau on Tuesday identified the fatal victim as Leon Reynoso, a 36-year-old man from Chula Vista. According to a GoFundMe page set up by Reynoso's family, the Chula Vista man was stopped in a Tesla at red light when Hibbard rear-ended him. As of Thursday afternoon, $19,715 of a $30,000 goal had been raised on the page. GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner.