James Rodriguez Killed in Alleged Drunk Driver Accident on Storey Lane in Dallas, TX

Dallas, TX — June 15, 2024, James Rodriguez was killed following an alleged drunk driver accident at around midnight near Storey Lane.

Dallas Police officials say that the incident happened in the area of Storey Lane and I-35E, and the call came in around 12:30 a.m., an estimated half hour after the collision occurred.

According to current reports, a pedestrian, identified by county officials as James Evan Rodriguez, was hit and killed by a driver in the area of the above intersection. The driver left the scene, but they later called authorities. That driver is accused of being over twice the legal limit for blood-alcohol content. Officials say the driver admitted to drinking at a local establishment prior to the collision. Right now, charges for DWI and collision involving death are pending.

Commentary by Attorney Michael Grossman

What I have yet to see is if authorities are also investigating this supposed alcohol provider. It’s something I discuss a lot on this blog. Alcohol providers can be responsible for contributing to a deadly accident if the drunk driver was someone the provider illegally over-served. Unfortunately, across hundreds of cases I’ve had against alcohol providers, authorities often let that slip through the cracks. Their focus tends to be on the drunk drivers, so the negligent alcohol providers fly under the radar until we happen to put them on the authorities’ radar. Even then, I’ve had cases where authorities still didn’t feel investigating the establishment was worth their time even after giving them evidence on a silver platter.

Here’s why that’s so frustrating. Obviously, drunk driving is a serious problem in DFW and in Texas as a whole. In my experience, the alcohol providers I’ve held accountable clean up their act once they actually face consequences for their actions. Otherwise, they just continue business as usual, continuing to put the community in danger. So not only might investigating this supposed alcohol provider reveal dangerous behavior that needs to be corrected, it could help to ensure that all parties responsible for the victim’s death are held accountable. Even if it’s just to rule out these possibilities, the victim’s loved ones deserve to know they’re getting the whole story.