Attorney: Teacher badly hurt in MCG rollover was victim of unsolved hit-and-run

By Elias Weiss, Editorial Director
Dec 30, 2025

PUBLIC SAFETY

The attorney for Desert Sunrise High School teacher Taliah Rodriquez told InMaricopa today that the rollover crash that shut down Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway earlier this month involved a driver who fled the scene, and he is asking the public for help identifying the vehicle.

Attorney Galen H. Satterlee of Satterlee Gibbs PLLC in Chandler said his firm represents Rodriquez, who was seriously injured and airlifted after the crash near Montgomery Road. Satterlee said his team has a photo believed to show the at-fault vehicle, but the image is too blurry to make out the license plate.

Lawyers at the firm are “seeking public input on the at-fault driver that fled the scene,” he wrote in an email.

A blurry photo provided by the victim’s attorney shows a vehicle believed to be tied to the rollover crash on Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway. Investigators say the driver left the scene. [Satterlee Gibbs PLLC]

In an earlier story, InMaricopa published dashcam footage from a reader showing two overturned vehicles in a roadside ditch moments before officers arrived. The video shows a brief, unsettling calm just before traffic stacked up and first responders rushed the crash site.

InMaricopa called Satterlee for additional details about Rodriquez’s condition and is awaiting a response.

Casa Grande police responded to the crash but have remained unwilling to answer questions from InMaricopa about the investigation.

Traffic was backed up for hours after the rollover, and a medical helicopter landed on the roadway to fly Rodriquez to a Phoenix hospital, according to witnesses.

Anyone with information, especially about a vehicle leaving the area at the time of the crash, can email [email protected] or contact Satterlee’s office at 480-702-1211.

Elias Weiss, Editorial Director

Elias Weiss earned his journalism degree from the University of Arkansas and began reporting for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He later led the Chatham Star-Tribune to a 2019 Best Weekly Newspaper award before working as an investigative reporter for Phoenix New Times and The Daily Beast. In 2023, he became managing editor at InMaricopa, winning top state awards for investigative and narrative reporting. In 2024, he took over as Editorial Director. Elias often discusses politics on KFNX. He currently works with Fox News