Driver Charged With DUI Manslaughter After 4 Killed, 7 Hurt In I-95 Crash
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- A South Florida driver faces serious charges, including DUI manslaughter, after his van struck a group of Good Samaritans on I-95 Friday morning, killing 4 and injuring 7 others.
Police identified the driver of the van as Lionel Orrego.
Orrego was charged with four counts of DUI manslaughter, two counts of DUI with serious bodily injury, three counts of DUI with property damage and count of resisting arrest with violence.
The accident happened just after 1 a.m. in the northbound lanes of I-95 at NW 62nd Street.
A motorcyclist riding with a group of other riders was involved in a crash. When other drivers pulled over to help, they were hit by the van, driven by Orrego.
Miami Fire Rescue Captain Ignatius Carroll said the call initially came in as five to eight victims, but when they arrived they realized the situation was much worse.
"During the evaluation and triage of the patients we found additional victims that were injured and it escalated it to a Level 2 mass casualty with a total of 11 people injured. Paramedics evaluated the 11 people, we identified seven that required transportation to the hospital," said Carroll.
Three of the injured were taken to the Ryder Trauma Center where they died. The fourth died hours later.
"Just a regular night trying to have fun and then tragedy happens," said Primo.
Primo, was part of the motorcycle group when his friend crashed. He said some of people who were hurt or killed were his friends. He's still trying to piece together what happened.
"It hurt my heart, I felt something different because I was just with one of them early this morning, it hurt to think that was the last time," he said.
According to a Florida Highway Patrol news release sent late Friday night, the deceased in the I-95 crash are: Alice Ghani, 21, Randy Benjamin, 38, Jhon Garzon, 25 and Meryl Diaz, 27.
