Car Slams Into Nursing Home, Driver Killed
NORTH MIAMI BEACH (CBSMiami) – One person is dead, four others injured, after a car crashed into a nursing home.
Just after 1:30 a.m., Enrique Linares of Margate was heading south on W. Dixie Highway at a high rate of speed when he hit an elevated curb and lost control of his Honda Prelude, according to police.
Linares, 28, crashed through a fence, careened through an elevated parking lot and then slammed into the Watercrest Care Center at 16650 W. Dixie Highway. The car lodged in between the first and second floors of the building.
"At this point I'm safe to say he was traveling at least 60 mph," said North Miami Beach police Detective Armando Sotero, "that speed is probably, uh, much greater than that due to how many feet he traveled in the air."
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Linares was killed.
The impact woke neighbors in the area.
"I heard a Boom," said Margaret Davis.
So did residents who live in the assisted living facility.
"My wife just woke me up and told me about it, we both live here, I thought she had a dream," said John Kerr.
Residents in the neighborhood say the intersection at West Dixie Highway is dangerous.
"I've been concerned for years there would be an accident here but nobody ever listens," said Philip Roy.
"Because of the angle of W. Dixie Highway, if you're not paying attention, if you're under the influence or texting on the phone this can be a tricky intersection, when coming from north or south, because of the abrupt turn," said Sotero.
Linares friends told CBS4 say he was on his way to a friend's house to spend the night because he had been having problems with his wife. The friend's house was only blocks away from the accident scene. Linares friends heard the crash and went outside to see what had happened. That's when they realized it was Linares' car involved in the crash and they called his wife.
"I never stopped loving him no matter what happened between us, he knows that," said Linares wife. "I loved him. I was going to fight for him, but I was too scared."
Four residents of the nursing home, who were sleeping at the time of the crash, were hit by flying concrete debris. They were taken to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
