IS DRIVER OF STRIKING CAR RELATED TO LAW ENFORCEMENT? SERIOUS QUESTIONS RAISED AFTER 48 HOUR DELAY IN RELEASING INFORMATION…
DID COPS PERMIT STRIKING DRIVER TO WIPE CELL PHONE BEFORE TURNING IT OVER?
BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher
DELRAY BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2023 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — One woman is apparently near death and several other people are injured following a high-impact crash on Atlantic Avenue in east Delray Beach.
It took three requests — including emails to Delray Beach Police Chief Russ Mager and City of Delray Beach Mayor Shelly Petrolia — for the Delray Beach Police Department’s spokesperson to finally issue a statement about the critical crash nearly 48 hours after it happened. It is an unprecedented amount of time for an official statement on a crash where police claim to still be seeking details. Now, there are questions being asked about whether the woman who struck four people on Atlantic Avenue is related to law enforcement.
Several witnesses tell BocaNewsNow.com that it appeared that first responding Delray Beach Police Officers permitted the woman — driving while either FaceTiming or actually videotaping with her phone while striking four people crossing Atlantic — to delete videos, call logs, and other material from her phone before turning it over to Delray Beach Police. If true, it would be an astonishing act of questionable police procedure. The agency is not answering questions about the crash — only providing the statement that we are republishing at the end of this article.
“This person may be related to law enforcement,” said someone familiar with events at the scene. “No one else would be allowed to do what it seems she was allowed to do.”
Witnesses say they observed what they called “appalling” police procedure — first responding slowly to the scene — then affording the ability for the alleged suspect to roam freely, make phone calls, and delete material before answering police questions. While these claims are unverified, police have offered no statement contradicting what multiple people state they observed.
BocaNewsNow.com has learned a woman — struck by the vehicle — is now on a ventilator at Delray Medical Center.
The following is the official statement issued late Monday — 48 hours after the crash — by Delray Beach Police spokesperson Ted White.
“At 11:08 p.m. on December 31st, four people were struck by a vehicle traveling eastbound in the 800-block of East Atlantic Avenue near the Intracoastal bridge. Three people were transported to the hospital with injuries. The fourth person was treated on scene for minor injuries. Several people who observed the incident came forward and provided details to investigators. The driver is cooperating with police and video of the crash was obtained. This remains an active investigation. If any other witnesses have information about this crash, please contact THI Charles Reed at 561-243-7888 ext. 2921.”
While at least two witnesses tell BocaNewsNow.com that the victims were “j-walking” — or crossing Atlantic at a location unfit for pedestrian traffic — they say they are concerned by the police response. We will update once Delray Beach Police officials provide more clarity on what happened — and offer insight as to whether the driver of the striking vehicle has any relationship, at all, to law enforcement.
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