Big Bear Lake murder suspect Ronald Michael Hitchcock, charged with the 2012 death of his girlfriend, Deborah Ann Crouch, returns to Superior Court on Wednesday, April 27, 21 for yet another disposition/reset hearing. (File Photo)
By G. T. Houts
San Bernardino, CA – Murder suspect Ronald Michael Hitchcock, now 60, returns to court once again on Wednesday, April 27. Hitchcock, who is charged with the murder of Erwin Lake resident, Deborah Ann Crouch, 53, will have a disposition/reset hearing at 8:30 a.m. in San Bernardino County Superior Court, Department S-16.
The report of a submerged car at Swim Beach in Big Bear Lake was received about 6 a.m. Saturday, September 15, 2002. (Contributed Photo)
Hitchcock and his attorneys have been granted numerous delays in the legal process that began shortly after Crouch and her dog were found in Big Bear Lake on September 15, 2012.
Hitchcock — a resident of Big Bear — entered a not guilty plea to murder and cruelty to another’s animal on September 18, 2012. He is currently in custody at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga with bail set at $1 million.
THE INCIDENT
Deborah Ann Crouch (Contributed Photo)
Hitchcock is charged with two felony charges after Crouch’s body and that of a dog were retrieved from a submerged car in Big Bear Lake on September 15, 2012.
Big Bear Sheriff’s deputies responded to the Swim Beach area of Meadow Park at about 6 a.m. on that date and made contact with a man (Hitchcock) — who was inside the fencing at Swim Beach and yelling — he explained his vehicle had crashed through the locked front gate and into the lake, according to a Big Bear Sheriff’s Station press release issued at the time.
Sheriff’s Aviation’s 40-King was dispatched about 7 a.m. and, once over the scene, mapped the GPS coordinates of the car’s location.
The car was located about 20 yards out from the beach.
Members of the department’s dive team went into Big Bear Lake and found the vehicle, which contained the female victim (Crouch) and a dog.
They were both pronounced deceased at the scene.
INVESTIGATION AND ARREST
San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department homicide detectives were summoned to the scene and, following their investigation — which included a search of Crouch’s residence on E Lane in Erwin Lake — arrested Hitchcock on suspicion of murder.
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