Woman Faces Trial in Rodriguez Death

DETROIT (AP) â€” The woman whose car struck and killed former Detroit Tigers third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez was ordered to stand trial on felony manslaughter charges. <br><br>Rodriguez, 52, was walking

Thursday, January 4th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

DETROIT (AP) â€” The woman whose car struck and killed former Detroit Tigers third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez was ordered to stand trial on felony manslaughter charges.

Rodriguez, 52, was walking with two of his friends Sept. 23 when authorities say the car driven by Carol Escobedo jumped a sidewalk and struck them before hitting a utility pole.

Judge Nancy Blount of Detroit's 36th District Court ordered Escobedo to stand trial on three felony counts, including manslaughter and operating a vehicle with a suspended license causing death. Each is punishable by 15 years in prison.

Escobedo had been ordered not to drive in 1994 after she had a brain aneurysm.

Rodriguez' friends, Joyce Wyman and Robert Kapp, testified about the accident. Wyman, who has been confined to a wheelchair since the accident with two broken legs, has had two reconstructive surgeries.

Escobedo is scheduled to be arraigned in Wayne Circuit Court Jan. 19.

Rodriguez was with the Tigers during the 1970s. He played in at least 128 games in seven of his nine years in Detroit, and won a Gold Glove in 1976.