Driver Convicted of Killing 9 in Crash

RIVERSIDE —  A 36-year-old Cathedral City man has been convicted of nine counts of second-degree murder in the drunk driving crash a year ago that all but destroyed a Beaumont family.

Teodolo Bermudes had been drinking all day and night before the Father’s Day crash on Interstate 10, his lawyer admitted. Bermudes faces up to 140 years in prison when he is sentenced July 11.

Bermudes rear-ended a sedan carrying 11 people that overturned and burst into flames. Eight members of Jose and Mercedes Dias de Rodriguez’s family were killed--five children and three grandchildren--as well as the father of two of the grandchildren. The elder Rodriguezes survived.

Deputy Public Defender Frank Scott said Bermudes was an alcoholic who couldn’t stop drinking, and should be convicted of gross vehicular manslaughter, not murder. Riverside County Deputy Dist. Atty. Creg Datig argued that Bermudes, who had three previous drunk driving convictions and was caught by witnesses after trying to flee, knew the risks of drinking and driving. The Riverside jury deliberated all day Thursday before reaching a verdict.