As she skated, she was on the phone with her mom. Suddenly, a ‘beautiful’ life ended in tragedy
“She was beautiful.”
She “had so many friends.”
She was a “joyful young woman.”
The manner in which Aline Palla Acosta died Wednesday while in-line skating along a bike path in Pompano Beach is stated in such matter-of-fact terms on a Broward Sheriff’s Office crash report it doesn’t convey the horror of the situation. Nor does it capture who this 27-year-old woman was to so many of her friends, her husband, or her mother and father back in Brazil.
Pedestrian killed
The basics: Just after 5 p.m. Wednesday, “Endail Thomas was traveling west in his silver 2007 Nissan Murano near the 600 block of Northeast 10th Street in Pompano Beach,” according to Gerdy St. Louis, a spokeswoman for BSO.
“After crossing over double lane lines to the left in order to pass a slower moving vehicle, Thomas swerved back to the right and lost control of the car, striking Aline F. Palla Acosta, a pedestrian who was roller blading on the provided pedestrian path along the north side of the road. The vehicle then struck a tree and split in two. Acosta was pronounced dead on scene.”
The emotional toll: “Aline was a joyful young woman. Anyone close to her would describe her as kind-hearted and beautiful inside and out. A colorful, amusing, and passionate young woman with a future even brighter than her infectious smile. Gone but never forgotten, Aline Palla Acosta will be missed by many,” her friend Daniela Del Ciampo wrote on a GoFundMe page she organized Friday.
Candlelight vigil
That same evening, friends and family gathered at the crash site for a candlelight vigil to remember the woman who was hit by the Nissan with such force responding officers could not immediately determine Acosta’s age, according to the Sun Sentinel.
After smashing into Acosta — who was on the phone with her mother who lives in Brazil, who heard her daughter scream, then noise, then silence — Thomas hit a tree that split the Nissan in half. The violent force ejected both of the car’s passengers. Pieces of the Nissan pinned Acosta to a pole, WSVN reported.
“She was talking to her, and she heard some crash, and she couldn’t hear her daughter anymore,” Del Ciampo told WSVN.
“She was the best person in the world. The sweetest. If you needed anything she was there for you,” Acosta’s friend Brooke Szabo told Miami Herald news partner CBS4 at the vigil.
“She was like a daughter to me,” Luiza Faical told CBS4. Faical owns the Jungle Smoothie Cafe on Commercial Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale where Acosta had worked for eight years.
“She was more than just an employee, she was family, our daughter who worked with us and a part of our family at Jungle Smoothie Cafe since she was 19 years old,” Faical’s post on the Jungle Smoothie Cafe’s Facebook page read.
Acosta had been promoted to help manage another location in Sunrise.
“Even though I knew you a short time, you had a big impact on me. I was so looking forward to growing Smoothie Jungle with you. Your smile lit up the entire place,” Geraldo Abreu wrote on the Facebook post.
GoFundMe page
The GoFundMe page was set with a $15,000 goal to help Acosta’s family handle the cost of cremation and to send her ashes back to her parents in Brazil. Remaining funds are to be dispersed to charities in Acosta’s name, Del Ciampo wrote on the page.
By Saturday morning, 237 donors had pledged $13,605.
Abreu donated $1,000.
“She was sooo good, loved by her colleagues, customers and friends. We miss her dearly. We are grateful for having met her. Dionne, Andres and Arianna will always remember her for being so kind and caring. Aline represents all that is good in this world. She was courageous, adventurous fun and compassionate. We will cherish the memories and will forever remember the radiant smile. May you be in a better place,” he wrote.
Acosta also leaves behind a husband of three years, WPLG Local 10 reported. He was too distraught to speak to reporters.
Memorial skate
Members of the inline-skating community plan to hold a memorial skate in Acosta’s honor at 9 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 23, at Pompano Air Park’s Trailhead bike path at 2001 NE 10th St. in Pompano Beach. The group will meet at the northwest corner of 10th Street and Federal Highway, organizers say.
The skaters plan to meet up after the four mile skate at Galuppis Restaurant, 1103 N. Federal Hwy. in Pompano Beach, at 11 a.m. Sunday.
“We in the inline skating community consider all skaters as family,” the group said on its Meetup page. “The tragic death of Aline Palla Acosta who was killed while skating on a popular multi use path in Pompano impacts all of us in some way.”
Driver and passenger
Thomas, 25, of Lauderhill Lakes, and his passenger in the Nissan, Melissa Gregoire, 37, of Fort Lauderdale, are at Broward Health North in critical condition, BSO said. They are both expected to survive, CBS4 reported on Friday.
Thomas has numerous traffic citations dating to August 2016, when he was cited for not stopping at a red light, according to Broward County court records.
On Feb. 11, eight days before the accident that killed Acosta, Thomas was cited by the Broward Sheriff’s Office for speeding at 58 mph in a 35 mph zone in a 2007 Nissan. Charges are still pending.
Other charges included driving without insurance in March 2019, driving with a suspended license and failing to register a vehicle in August 2018.
A witness, Brad Michael, told WFOR CBS4 on Wednesday he saw a black SUV chasing the Nissan moments before the Nissan crashed and split in two.
“It’s not a simple accident, there’s more to this than a one-car accident,” Michael told the station, estimating the speed of the SUV at over 100 mph in a 35 mph zone.
BSO is investigating.
Thomas’ girlfriend, Rosie Granvill, told WPLG she feels for Acosta’s family.
“I feel sorry for the other person that passed away,” she said.
This story was originally published February 22, 2020 at 11:07 AM.
