The driver of the SUV who rammed a minivan in Florida state in the US last week that resulted in the tragic death of four people, including two siblings from Cebu, is facing four counts of vehicular homicide, media reports said
According to a report by the Miami New Times, Willie Dumel, the driver of the Chevrolet Suburban, survived the crash and was taken to a hospital with two broken legs.
Cpl. Sergio Perez, the police officer who pursued Dumel, is on administrative leave as investigators continue with their probe.
The fatal car crash early Wednesday morning (not Tuesday night as previously reported) claimed the lives of Dennis Ryan Rinon Ortiz, 33; Lily Marie Azarcon, 26 and siblings Albertson Anthony Almase, 31 and Kristina Angela Almase, 26.
Officials of Opa-locka, a city in Florida’s Miami-Dade country, have denied that Perez pursued a suspect well out of his jurisdiction onto the Interstate-95 highway, a New Times report said.
Investigators discovered that the police officer was fired from his previous job after he got involved in a drag-racing crash. They are also looking into possible violation of police department rules which allows police officers to pursue suspects when a serious crime such as murder, rape or robbery in progress is involved. They are not allowed to pursue people for traffic infractions.
Cpl. Perez chased Dumel after he made an illegal right turn. Dumel hit the gas and fled north, going onto I-95’s southbound lanes where his SUV collided head-on with the Kia Sorento that was carrying the victims.
Perez’s superiors in Opa-locka initially told the media that he stopped his pursuit when the suspect entered the wrong lane of the highway, but audio recordings obtained by the Miami Herald seem to indicate that the police officer continued to follow Dumel right onto I-95 and then screaming, “Oh my God!” when the suspect hit the minivan.
“He is going against traffic on I-95. We’re going northbound in the southbound lanes of I-95,” Perez said in his radio transmission.
The radio exchange was recorded moments before the crash happened at 1 a.m. Wednesday just north of Ives Dairy Road.
The radio transmission was contrary to what Opa-locka Assistant City Manager David Chiverton said on Wednesday. Chiverton said he was told that Perez told investigators that he stopped his pursuit before getting on the highway.
“It is my understanding that the pursuit was stopped on 203rd Street,” Chiverton had said. A witness who was just behind the victims’ minivan said the crash happened so quickly.
Loud crash
“We saw a vehicle driving northbound in the southbound lanes. In just two to four seconds it was coming our way and boom. We heard a loud crash. We saw smoke and fire,” Jeff Kopelman told CBS4.
“We saw the SUV lift up and go off the ground and then tumble over and end up on the side of the road. “We were right behind them and had it been another 10 seconds max, it could have been us.”
The victims’ bodies are still in the custody of the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office as of Friday afternoon.
The four died at the scene of “blunt force trauma,’’ according to Larry Cameron, operations director at Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office.
“We’re simply waiting for the families to make arrangements with funeral homes,’’ Cameron said, adding that autopsies were completed on Wednesday.
Cameron said he didn’t know if the driver and passengers wore seat belts.
“In high-velocity crashes, no matter what safety features there are, you won’t be able to preserve life,” he said.
Privacy
Caesar Almase, a Las Vegas-based lawyer and uncle of Albertson and Kristina, sent an email to The Miami Herald and asked that the privacy of a “very private family’’ be respected.
“We, their family, are very upset about this tragedy. Their parents and sister are grief-stricken. They touched many lives in the short time they lived and will be missed by all who knew them. Albertson and Kristina were the best of us,’’ his email to the Herald said.