A 26-year-old man is facing nearly two dozen charges stemming from a crash in Margate earlier this year that killed three people, court records show.
Jeremiah Terrance Anderson, of Fort Lauderdale, was the driver of a white BMW that crashed with two other cars on Jan. 14 near the intersection of North Rock Island Road and Royal Palm Boulevard shortly before midnight after running a red light, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Anderson’s BMW first crashed into a Honda Accord at the intersection that was traveling east on Royal Palm Boulevard, then into a Toyota Camry that was traveling north on Rock Island Road, the police department said in a news release.
A few days after the crash, a woman who was riding in the passenger seat in Anderson’s car that night told police that he was “driving way too fast” and that they had both been drinking, the affidavit said. She asked him multiple times to slow down.
Data retrieved from Anderson’s car showed he was speeding at 86 mph when he crashed into the Honda, the affidavit said. The speed limit in the area is 45 mph.
All three who were killed were inside the Honda, police previously said: The driver, Brayan Steven Wilches, 24; and his two passengers, Diana Nino, 47; and Nancy Sanchez, 27, who later died at Broward Health North. Their names are redacted in the affidavit.
Anderson’s passenger needed to be extricated from the car and had surgery at Broward Health North for internal bleeding, the affidavit said. Her name is also redacted. The Toyota driver had minor injuries and did not need to be taken to the hospital.
Officers talked to Anderson while still at the scene. He smelled of alcohol, and when one officer asked if he had been drinking alcohol, Anderson allegedly said, “yeah a little bit,” according to the affidavit.
As Coral Springs Fire Rescue took Anderson to a hospital, he gave them a fake name, the affidavit said. His license had been suspended since 2022.
Investigators received toxicology results in late February from a blood draw taken a little more than an hour after the crash, which showed Anderson’s blood alcohol content was .152, well above the 0.08% legal limit threshold, and positive for THC, according to the affidavit and prosecutors’ motion seeking he be held in custody while the charges are pending.
A warrant for his arrest was filed in Broward County court in June. He was arrested Thursday and remained in the jail as of Friday night.
Anderson faces 21 charges including DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, DUI causing serious bodily injury and reckless driving.