He took a wild ride in the Keys — then crashed into the hotel hot tub and bar, police say
A man crashed a van into a hotel’s outdoor bar in Key West on Wednesday night after taking wild a ride through the Lower Keys on U.S. 1 during which he hit speeds of 80-plus mph, police said.
Asiel Diaz Valladares, 31, the driver, was taken to the Lower Keys Medical Center at about 11:50 p.m and then airlifted to Jackson South Medical Center in Miami-Dade, according to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
“He’s going to be facing some charges,” said Adam Linhardt, the spokesman for the sheriff’s office.
Diaz Valladares’ condition on Thursday was not immediately clear. Police don’t have his hometown yet. No other injuries were reported.
After the crash, Diaz Valladares was found hiding in some bushes at the hotel, the Hilton Garden Inn Key West, 3850 N. Roosevelt Blvd., Linhardt said. The hotel is near the entrance to Key West.
The van, which police described only as a “work van,” smashed through a fence, ran over trees and then the hotel’s hot tub before smashing into the bar.
There were no hotel guests in that area at the time, Linhardt said.
The damage left at the hotel was estimated at about $30,000, he said.
Diaz Valladares first caught the police’s attention at 11:32 p.m. on Big Pine Key. That’s when Deputy Jonathan Lane reported a van was traveling 86 mph southbound in the 35 mph speed zone near mile marker 30.
“Due to the suspect’s high rate of speed, Deputy Lane did not attempt a traffic stop for safety reasons,” Linhardt said. “Instead, he radioed to deputies south of him to be-on-the-lookout.”
That set off an effort among several deputies who tried to stop the van. Each deputy, though, broke off the pursuit for safety reasons, Linhardt said, as Diaz Valladares was driving about 80 mph.
“We were continually following him from Big Pine, just not at his speeds,” Linhardt said “When one deputy would lose sight of him, the next deputy down the road would pick it up. “
Key West police joined in the pursuit as the van driver got closer to Key West, but still wouldn’t stop. Police put down tire spikes at mile marker 11 but that attempt failed, too.
Jordan Upchurch, of Key West, who works at a nearby hotel, was leaving work Wednesday night when he heard a “loud roar” coming over the Cow Key Channel Bridge. He saw a white vehicle speeding through the intersection at the entrance to Key West.
“He was not slowing down and tried to make the turn to turn right,” Upchurch said. Instead, the vehicle crashed through the hotel’s fence.
Upchurch said he saw sparks and then heard a loud bang.
“There was quite a bit of smoke,” Upchurch said.
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 3:57 PM.
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