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The Solicitor’s Office has dropped all charges against the man first suspected in the 2008 hit-and-run driving death of Bluffton High School senior Josh George.
Solicitor Duffie Stone announced in July he was dropping the felony DUI charges against Juan Rodriguez after DNA tests on the beer cans found inside the car did not match the suspect. Rodriguez, also known as Juan Roman, had been in jail since May 2008 when he was first linked to the crash that killed 17-year-old George on Bluffton Parkway as George was headed home from an after-prom party.
Stone said the DNA examination provided no evidence Rodriguez was even in the car at the time. The findings left him no choice but to drop the charges, Stone said.
“I’ve never prosecuted anybody who I wasn’t convinced was guilty. And I’m not going to start now,” he said. The two beer cans found in the car were linked to two other males, but those two men have not been found, Stone said.
The Solicitor’s Office is asking the Bluffton Police Department to continue investigating the case to find the other suspects. Another arrest is possible, but Stone said it likely won’t be happening any time soon.
