WITNESS: “THE PHONE! YOU AND THE F’ING PHONE!”
NEW YEAR’S EVE NIGHTMARE: FOUR INJURED, ONE CRITICAL. COPS HOLD REPORT FOR THREE WEEKS. BOCANEWSNOW.COM THREATENS LEGAL ACTION TO OBTAIN DOCUMENTS…
DRIVER ADMITS. VIDEO OF THE DEBILITATING CRASH NOW IN EVIDENCE…
BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher
DELRAY BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2023 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — The woman who slammed into four people while driving on Atlantic Avenue near the Intracoastal on New Year’s Eve is now identified as 75-year-old Nadya Pearlman of Bolero Circle in Delray Beach. Public records obtained by BocaNewsNow.com indicate Pearlman is a retired teacher from New Jersey.
The Delray Beach Police Department refused for three weeks to release the information. BocaNewsNow.com — after involving City of Delray Beach Mayor Shelly Petroila who personally involved City Manager Terrance Moore — finally obtained the unredacted police report Friday afternoon after filing an affidavit and suggesting legal action would follow. While the report seemingly quashes rumors that Pearlman has a relationship with City of Delray Beach officials, it does not explain why the City fought so hard to keep this report under seal.
According to the police report, Nadya Pearlman was driving a black Mercedes CL500 when she slammed into four people crossing the street near the Intracoastal Bridge around 11 p.m. New Year’s Eve. The following is verbatim from the police report:
“Post Miranda I advised Pearlman that several independent witnesses on scene advised officers that they observed her to be videoing on her cell phone at the time of the crash. Due to the phone being potential evidence and possibly being the causation of the crash, the phone was seized for evidentiary purposes. Pearlman stated that she was driving down East Atlantic Avenue wishing people Happy New Year While using her phone to video. Pearlman later admitted she was in fact on the phone at the time of the crash and gave consent to search her phone to include her videos.”
The police report also states that Pearlman had recorded roughly ten minutes of video — including the impact — which shows four people being violently struck and pushed to the ground as someone off-camera is heard screaming “the phone! You and the f-ing phone!” She later told police, according to the report, that she did not observe the pedestrians.
We are not identifying the victims at this time. We have reached out to their families. At least one was unresponsive shortly after the crash. Documented an officer: “I arrived at Delray Medical Center at approximately 0057 hours. In Trauma Room one was (victim 1). She was bleeding from the back of her head but was unable to be turned over for documentation due to her internal injuries and sedation.”
Pearlman has only been charged with “operating a vehicle in a careless manner.” She was issued a ticket on Wednesday of this week. Her fine: $166. She did not answer a call from BocaNewsNow.com.
BocaNewsNow.com fought for three weeks to obtain information about the crash. Public Information Officer Ted White — two days after the crash — finally sent a few sentences with no substantive information. After waiting for three weeks, BocaNewsNow.com followed-up on Thursday and was told by White that he would request the report from “Public Records.” But the “Public Records” Clerk responded that the request was too “vague” because it did not include information that White refused to provide. After heated exchanges on Friday, the document was finally released. It remains unclear why Delray Beach PD refused to release this information.
Andrew Colton hosts South Florida’s First News weekdays from 6-10 on NewsRadio 610 WIOD. Listen on the air, in the iHeart Radio App, or tell Alexa, Google, or Siri to play “NewsRadio 610 WIOD.” Simulcast on 105.9HD2.
LOCAL JOURNALISM SUPPORTER.
