A 19-year-old woman was killed Sunday in a violent early morning car crash in Deerfield Beach that left four people hospitalized in intensive care, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday.
Among those patients is one of the drivers in the two-car crash who detectives suspect was speeding and driving while impaired, the sheriff’s office said.
The collision between a BMW 530i sedan and a Tesla Model 3 happened about 4 a.m. in the westbound lanes of West Hillsboro Boulevard, between North Powerline Road and Country Club Boulevard, authorities said.
Tesla passenger Thais Haug, 19, of Deerfield Beach, died from injuries she received in the crash, the sheriff’s office said.
Raphael Candido Vilela, 20, of West Boca, was driving the BMW west along Hillsboro Boulevard as Sebastian Espinoza, 18, of Deerfield Beach, was steering the Tesla east toward Country Club Boulevard.
Espinoza was in the designated turn lane waiting to travel north onto Country Club Boulevard. When the Tesla entered the intersection, the BMW struck its passenger side. The impact caused the Tesla’s passenger side, rear seats and part of the trunk to be ripped off the sedan, according to the sheriff’s office.
The front wheels of the BMW came off and the engine compartment dragged along the boulevard. The BMW caught fire as it continued moving west about 700 feet, the sheriff’s office said.
Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue paramedics took Haug to Broward Health North in Deerfield Beach, where she died, according to the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Paramedics took other patients to the same hospital, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Michael Kane said.
Vilela and his three passengers — Alice Silva, 17, of Coconut Creek; Giovannia Silva, 16 and Joao Coneglian, 17, both of Boca Raton — had serious injuries and were in intensive care, the sheriff’s office said.
Espinoza’s injuries were minor, and he was treated and released from medical care.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Giovannia Silva was still at Broward Health North and in stable condition; Vilela was in critical condition, a spokesman said. Alice Silva had been discharged Monday.
Coneglian was not listed as a patient on Tuesday.
Firefighters put out the fire in the engine compartment of the BMW, Kane said. Investigators have found that excessive speed and driver impairment were the primary factors in the crash, the sheriff’s office said.
For the past eight months or so, Haug worked part-time as the nighttime hostess at the Lighthouse Point Yacht Club, said Jessica Easterling, a partner in the club.
“She was quiet, sweet, beautiful and kind, and that’s the tragedy,” Easterling said. “She was a part of our family. It’s devastating.”
Neighbor Diane Yendell said she’s known the Haug family since Thais Haug was little and they moved into the Deer Creek development.
“All the neighbors watched them grow up together,” Yendell said. “The kids were always around. It was great. This has really devastated the entire neighborhood.”
Vilela is facing numerous charges, including vehicular homicide; DUI causing death, serious bodily injury and property damage; an expired driver’s license and reckless driving, according to a court docket. State records listed Vilela as a safe driver, though his license had expired Feb. 27.
The sheriff’s office asks anyone with information to call Traffic Homicide Detective Anthony Morales at 954-321-4840 or Broward County Crime Stoppers, at 954-493-8477. The organization accepts anonymous tips and pays up to $3,000 for information that leads to an arrest.
ljtrischitta@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4233 or Twitter @LindaTrischitta
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