Witness: Teen Accused Of Stealing Car From Airbnb Rental Urged 'Don't Call The Cops'
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Coconut creek (CBSMiami) – The teenager accused of stealing a car from an Airbnb rental home in Coconut Creek and hitting and killing a dedicated young father tried to prevent the police from investigating the deadly crash.
That's one of the new pieces of information we're learning in the case of Gregory Holt.
The Broward State Attorney's Office released investigative documents Wednesday in the case against Holt, who is accused of using the stolen car to cause an accident that killed Charlie Ruiz on September 25, 2016. Holt is also accused of leaving the scene of that accident.
Prosecutors released several Facebook videos showing Holt enjoying a hard partying lifestyle — drinking, smoking pot, rapping, skateboarding and having a very good time. For now, those days are over for Holt. He's locked up in the Paul Rein Detention facility in Pompano Beach on $175-thousand bond.
Coral Springs Police say Holt and others rented a home on Airbnb to celebrate his and another person's birthday last September. Holt apparently found the keys to the BMW inside the car and later took it for a ride. A friend from the party told police she recalls Holt showing her the keys.
FRIEND: "They told that they found the car keys to the BMW that was in the garage."
POLICE: "Who told you that?"
FRIEND: "Greg."
POLICE: "Did Greg show you the keys?"
FRIEND: "Yes. He told it was a rental and they could drive it. It comes with the house."
The investigative documents and evidence released Wednesday also included a police interview with the teen girl who was with Holt at the time of the crash when he is accused of running off the road at Sample Road and 441.
"He was driving," the girl told police. "I was looking at the road. And he was texting and driving."
She said the car flipped over and she didn't even remember hitting the car with Ruiz, the doting father of a daughter, inside, killing him. The girl told police Holt's reaction was to jump a fence and urge her to run away with him rather than deal with the witnesses who called police.
"He was telling the other people, 'Don't call the cops, everything's fine. Don't call the cops!'" the girl told investigators.
On a 911 call, you can apparently hear Holt's voice.
VOICE: "Don't call the cops…"
WITNESS: "What do you mean don't call the cops?"
VOICE: "Don't call the cops…"
WITNESS: "The car is overturned."
911 DISPATCHER: "OK, is the person in the BMW telling you not to call the cops?"
WITNESS: "Yeah."
Seconds later on that same 911 call, it appears that Holt takes off running.
"You have to get to the hospital," the witness said. "Are you crazy? Don't run!"
Holt did get away and police said Holt used a stranger's cellphone to call for a cab and check his social media accounts.
Police say Holt's efforts to avoid responsibility for the crash didn't stop there. A friend who was at the party in Coconut Creek told police Holt urged her and others to blame the crash on another person.
"I asked him, I'm like, 'Greg, but people are coming up to me telling me that you killed somebody and he's like, 'No, just switch up the story like I wasn't there, like I wasn't in the passenger seat, I wasn't driving,'" she said.
The night of the crash Holt wound up at the home of another friend, who said Hold admitted what happened.
"He lost control of the vehicle," the friend told police. "He said he just remembers being in the air and flipping."
She said it wasn't until days later that Holt learned he hit another car.
"He started crying," the friend told police. "He was like,' I didn't mean to.' He told me he didn't know he hit somebody."