South Florida fire paramedic arrested after fatal crash sends daughter, 3, to the ICU
A South Florida fire rescue paramedic pleaded not guilty Tuesday after the car he was driving crashed in Southwest Miami-Dade last month, killing an elderly woman and severely injuring his 3-year-old daughter, police said.
Vidal Victor Lazo, 47, was arrested Dec. 23 on a charge of child neglect with great bodily harm after a toxicology test detected opiates, methamphetamine and alcohol in his blood, according to his arrest report. The Southwest Ranches Volunteer Fire Department lieutenant got out of Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center Monday night after satisfying a $5,000 bond, court records show.
Lazo, a licensed paramedic and a registered mental health counselor intern, had been volunteering with the fire department since November 2018, Fire Chief Lee Bennett told the Miami Herald in a text Tuesday. Bennett declined to say what actions, if any, his department has taken against the lieutenant after the crash.
“This Investigation is ongoing and upon conclusion of the investigation we will have further comments,” he said.
Lazo, a former lieutenant with the Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue, was seen in a wheelchair during a recent court appearance.
“I am in a wheelchair for six months,” he told a judge, WSVN 7 News reported. “I broke both my ankles.”
Around 11 a.m. Dec. 21, Lazo was driving in the area of Bird Road (Southwest 40th Street) and 134th Avenue when he crashed the vehicle, with his daughter in a car seat. They were both taken to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital before the girl had to be transported to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital for further treatment in one of its pediatric intensive care units.
Three others, of whom two were hospitalized, were also injured, the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said in a news release at the time. According to Miami-Dade police, Ileana Mendigutia, 77, died as a result of the crash.
Two days after the crash, officers arrested Lazo on Dec. 23 at the Kendall hospital. His arrest was first reported by NBC 6 South Florida.
Details about the crash haven’t been released by police, including what caused it, but investigators say Lazo’s daughter ended up with multiple fractures to her face and left leg The amount of drugs and alcohol that were in Lazo’s system shortly after the crash and whether he would face additional charges was not immediately clear.
“This is still an open MDPD investigation,” Lt. Luis Sierra, a Miami-Dade police spokesman, told the Herald in an email Wednesday.
His arraignment hearing is set for Jan. 16.
This story was originally published January 2, 2024 at 5:51 PM.
