Driver in wrong way crash that killed 5 lost his license in 2014 after going 109 mph, records show
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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.
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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
The Miami Gardens man named by state troopers as the cause of Saturday’s Palmetto Expressway crash that killed five people lost his driver’s license in 2014 for driving 109 mph, online court records say.
That ticket in Collier County wouldn’t be the last traffic violation conviction for Maiky Simeon, 30, but it’s the one that caused the license suspension for not payment of fines. Online court records say Simeon still owes $582 of the traffic fine to Collier County, the amount has been sent to collections and there’s no indication the suspension has been lifted.
But a Sunday night email from the Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles site say Simeon’s license is valid.
FHP said Simeon was driving east in State Road 826’s westbound lanes just north of Miami Lakes around 4:30 a.m. Saturday driving when he initiated a head-on crash with a Honda carrying four women and a man near Northwest 57th Avenue (Red Road). None of the passengers in the Honda survived.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue airlifted Simeon to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. He might face criminal charges.
A search of online court records and a database show that Simeon has been ticketed in nine traffic incidents since 2013, but been convicted in only four:
April 29, 2014: North Miami police ticketed Simeon for cutting through private property to avoid stopping at a traffic signal. He paid a fine of $182.
Aug. 24, 2014: FHP caught Simeon doing 109 mph in a 70 mph stretch of southbound Interstate 75 in Collier County around 2 a.m. Online records say Simeon paid $20 of the original $603 fine before his license got a D6 suspension first for not showing up for a Sept. 30, 2014 hearing. That was lifted on Nov. 19, 2014. He paid the $23 suspension fee. He got a second D6 suspension on Dec. 30, 2014 for non-payment of the fine. He paid $2.37 of that suspension fee.
The online Collier County records say Simeon still owes $582.38. There’s no docket notation that the D6 suspension ever was lifted.
April 14, 2016: North Miami Beach police ticketed Simeon for running a red light. With late fees, he paid $293.
May 7, 2017: North Miami Beach police ticketed Simeon for failing to yield the right of way in an intersection with four-way stop signs. With late fees, he paid $195.
Correction: An earlier version of the story misstated the traffic fines Simeon still owes to Miami-Dade County and total traffic fines.
This story was originally published August 21, 2022 at 10:11 AM.
