He had a car and alcohol, cops say, but no driver’s license. It was a deadly situation
A Hollywood man who never should have been sitting in the driver’s seat, according to Hollywood police, sits in Broward County jail facing DUI charges after a Mother’s Day crash that killed a Hollywood woman.
Police identified the woman as Guerda Franhille, 48.
According to the charges, Wilmer Membreno Cruz’s wasn’t qualified to drive Sunday even before the first drink that led to a blood alcohol level that arrest paperwork placed at .285, over three times the legal limit of .08.
Cruz, 34, also lacked a driver’s license, a violation to which he pleaded no contest after being ticketed on Mother’s Day 2018. He was identified by his Honduras passport.
He paid $298 after that violation. He’ll pay with prison time should he be convicted of DUI-causing death to any human; four counts of DUI with damage to another’s person or property; and driving while license suspended causing death or serious injury.
According to the probable cause affidavit, around 9 p.m. Sunday, Franhille slowed her gray 2006 Toyota Scion on Taft Street as she approached 64th Avenue from the east. Cruz, also rolling east, crashed his 2018 Toyota Tacoma into Franhille’s Scion. The PC affidavit says this pushed Franhille’s car forward into a Mazda pickup truck. Cruz’s Tacoma careened into a Speedway gas station and met harshly with a Ford F350.
Franhille was declared dead on the scene.
This story was originally published May 14, 2019 at 2:59 PM.
