Wrong-way crash on Palmetto kills five. ‘This is a criminal investigation,’ FHP says
READ MORE
A wrong way driver and 5 young people dead on the Palmetto Expressway
Articles on the Aug. 20 crash that took the lives of Giancarlo Arias, Daniella Marcano, Valeria Peña, Briana Pacalagua and Valeria Cáceres, all in their late teens or early 20s.
Expand All
Wrong-way crash on Palmetto kills five. ‘This is a criminal investigation,’ FHP says
‘It broke my soul’: Loved ones mourn 5 young adults killed in South Florida wrong-way crash
Driver in wrong way crash that killed 5 lost his license in 2014 after going 109 mph, records show
Driver arrested in wrong-way crash that killed 5 young friends on Palmetto Expressway
A criminal investigation is underway after five people died in a wrong-way crash early Saturday morning near Miami Lakes, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
“The victims’ names will not be released because this is a criminal investigation,” Lt. Alejandro Camacho, an FHP spokesman, said Sunday in an email.
The wrong-way driver was identified as Maiky Simeon, and he was airlifted to Ryder Trauma with serious injuries. The 30-year-old was stable as of Saturday afternoon, Camacho said.
Simeon was driving east in the westbound lanes of State Road 826 near Northwest 57th Avenue around 4:30 a.m., when he crashed head-on into a gray Honda sedan carrying four women and a man ages 18 to 25, Camacho said.
FHP had originally said the victims were all female, but the agency sent a correction Saturday afternoon, along with the identity of the wrong-way driver.
Details on where the six people involved in the crash were traveling to and from have also not been released.
Early Saturday, Marc Chavers, division chief of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, told local TV stations, including WPLG and NBC6, that rescue crews had to use the Jaws of Life to get the trapped driver out of his Infiniti, and that moments before the crash police got a call that a driver was heading in the wrong direction on the highway.
All westbound lanes that had been shut have reopened to traffic around 11:30 a.m., Camacho said.
Simeon had a driving record before the crash
Simeon has several traffic citations dating between 2014 and 2017, Miami-Dade County’s court records show. The cases, all closed, include infractions such as speeding, failing to stop at a light and no proof of insurance. He also had three criminal traffic charges for knowingly driving without a license and unlawful use of tags in 2016.
In a petition for a protection order that has since been dropped, a girlfriend of Simeon accused him of abuse, harassment and stalking. His behavior was called “obsessive” and “psychotic.” It was also noted in the petition that he had a problem with alcohol.
Anyone with information about Simeon’s whereabouts before the crash is asked to call the Florida Highway Patrol at 305-470-2500.
This story has been updated after the Florida Highway Patrol corrected its early report to properly list the genders of the five victims in the Honda.
Miami Herald reporters David Ovalle, Devoun Cetoute and Omar Rodríguez Ortiz contributed to this report.
This story was originally published August 20, 2022 at 8:38 AM with the headline "Wrong-way crash on Palmetto kills five. ‘This is a criminal investigation,’ FHP says."
