Palm Desert High teacher suspected of DUI in pedestrian’s death had passed background check

A Palm Desert High School teacher and coach suspected of hitting and killing a pedestrian while driving drunk over the weekend had gone through a background check before being hired, a school official said Monday. And a Desert Sun review of court records shows he had no criminal history in Riverside County.

Cameron Curtis, 31, of Palm Desert had undergone a standard background check prior to his employment at the high school, Desert Sands Unified School District spokesperson Mary Perry confirmed.

Curtis was hired as a Palm Desert High football and baseball coach in November 2016. He continued coaching as he became a districtwide substitute teacher last year and then a full-time Palm Desert High English teacher this school year.

On Saturday evening, Curtis was driving a gray Nissan Frontier traveling east on Calliandra Street when his vehicle hit a woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene around 6 p.m. that day, according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.

Intoxication "appears to have played a role in this collision," according to a press release from the Palm Desert Sheriff's Station. The victim's identity hasn't been released by the coroner.

Curtis was arrested around 7:15 p.m on Saturday on suspicion of murder. He is being held on $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, and has yet to be formally charged. He has no criminal history in Riverside County, according to court records. He is due in court this week.

Jonathan Horwitz covers education for The Desert Sun. Reach him at jonathan.horwitz@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Desert High coach Cameron Curtis had background check, DSUSD says