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Son Tried To Keep Mother From Driving Before Alleged DUI Crash

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - On April 26th, a silver GMC SUV plowed through a fence at Tamiami Park by Southwest 117th Avenue, onto a ball field, running over and maiming Javier Perez, the beloved principal of South Dade Senior High. The husband and father was at the park coaching his 5-year-old son's baseball game.

Marilyn Aguilera, 51, the SUV driver, was drunk police say.

In a just released recorded police interview, Aguilera's minor son said he tried to keep his intoxicated mother from driving the afternoon she crashed into the baseball field.

"I took her keys away," the boy told a traffic homicide investigator.

But the boy said his mother couldn't be stopped.

"She started getting very pissed off, and I didn't want to fight with her," the son told police. "So I just let her be a big girl and let her take the keys because I can't stop her," he said.

One witness said she was right behind Aguilera.

"She was going extremely fast and lost control," Kristell Fernandez said in a police interview. "She hit the median and went straight into the baseball field."

Another witness was on the baseball field and watched the careening SUV coming.

"As it bounced off the center median, it spun around approximately two or three times," Chris Clute told the investigator. "I saw one guy, the victim, down on the ground with severe leg injuries."

Javier Perez would lose both of his legs and undergo multiple surgeries. He watched his senior class graduate on a closed circuit feed to his hospital room.

Witnesses told police the woman who ran him down reeked of booze.

"I did smell alcohol on her," Fernandez said. "She was freaking out."

The batch of newly released evidence includes photos of the SUV that barreled through the fence. Police photographed an empty, 16-ounce beer can on the floor of the car, but say Aguilera had consumed much more than that. Her blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit.

Related: Accused DUI Driver Fitted With GPS After Release Mix-Up

Aguilera is awaiting trial for driving under the influence causing great bodily harm. Javier Perez remains in a rehabilitation center, recovering from his double amputation.

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