Caught on video, fiery Lamborghini crash killed 3 Miami tourists. Driver was drunk, tests show

The horrific crash went unnoticed back in January: A speeding Lamborghini Urus plowed into a concrete pillar in Hialeah, killing three tourists in a fiery, spectacular explosion captured on video surveillance.

Now, a toxicology report released this week shows that the driver, a 30-year-old New Jersey man, was intoxicated from alcohol and painkillers. He died in the wreck, along with his two passengers.

The crash happened on Jan. 17, during the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, as visitors flooded into South Florida, which at the time had fewer COVID restrictions than in other states. The crash escaped the attention of the media.

According to Hialeah police, the rented Lamborghini SUV was speeding down East 10th Avenue, near 25th Avenue at 1:43 a.m., when it lost control, sliced through a tree and slammed head-on into a concrete Metrorail pillar. “Upon impact with the concrete pillar, [the SUV] exploded into flames and partially disintegrated,” according to a Hialeah police traffic crash report. The car was believed to have been traveling over 100 mph.

The driver, a father of two from New Brunswick, New Jersey, was ejected from the SUV. The two passengers — a 26-year-old New Jersey man and a 27-year-old Georgia woman — were also killed instantly in the wreck.

According to the toxicology report from the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office, the driver had bodily fluid alcohol content levels of .10 and .12, well above the legal limit. Tests also revealed his blood had the presence of oxycodone, a powerful painkiller that has contributed to a nationwide opioid addiction crisis.

The mother of one victim, reached by the Herald weeks after the crash, declined to comment. Other family members could not be reached. The owner of the rented 2019 Lamborghini could also not be reached for comment. A new Urus costs over $220,000.

This story was originally published June 11, 2021 at 7:57 AM.