A 53-year-old Opa-Locka man, Yves Erold Altieri, was arrested and faces charges of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide after a crash in Miami Gardens that resulted in the death of a construction worker. According to CBS News Miami, the incident occurred on November 18, when Altieri's vehicle struck Eduardo Meridas Llanas, 31, who was at a construction site on Northwest 27th Avenue.
The series of events leading to the tragedy began when Altieri failed to stop at a light, subsequently colliding with a stopped vehicle. Altieri then allegedly proceeded to drive away from the initial crash site "driving erratically at a high rate of speed, changing lanes aggressive, swerving between vehicles and forcing other drivers to brave abruptly to avoid collisions," as described in the police report obtained by CBS News Miami. Witnesses reported that Altieri plowed through several construction cones before striking Llanas' vehicle, where Llanas had just unbuckled his seatbelt.
As reported by NBC Miami, Llanas suffered serious head and neck injuries and was pronounced dead three days after the incident. The arrest report also detailed that two other workers had to jump out of harm's way during the crash.
Toxicology results later revealed that Altieri's blood alcohol concentration at the time was 0.305, almost four to certainly surpass Florida's legal limit of 0.08. The investigation also found that Altieri was driving on only a learner's permit, which requires the accompaniment of a driver over 21. "Including a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath and/or person, bloodshot-glassy eyes, slurred speech, and confusion," were some of the signs of intoxication noted by officers as per the NBC Miami report. Following these revelations, Altieri was taken into custody and a judge set his bond at $150,000.
Altieri, who surrendered to authorities Tuesday, indicated to investigators that he did not remember the initial crash, and claimed that he had consumed about four Corona beers at a birthday party before the accident. He was allegedly on his way to take his mother to Walmart when the fatal crash occurred. Altieri's account came from an interview with the police as reported by NBC Miami.
