Earlier today, we told you that Derek Cook, the Tamarac man who was allegedly involved in the hit-and-run death of two British tourists last year, has surrendered to police. And now Coral Gables attorney Seth Miles, who's representing Elford's family in a civil suit against Cook and Ryan LeVin, says there's no doubt in his mind who was driving that day.
"I think LeVin was driving," says Miles. LeVin, of course, comes from a Chicago-area family that made its fortune in the jewelry business. "Ryan LeVin got drunk and reckless, and I think he was racing his car when he lost control and killed these two guys."
Further, Miles suspects that LeVin is trying to make Cook the fall guy. "I think he called Cook to get rid of the car," says Miles. "So then Cook came over, they switched cars, and then Cook was going to get rid of it and then pick up LeVin."
That might have worked, except that LeVin was pulled over by police shortly after the crash while driving Cook's car.
But in his interview with police, LeVin said that Cook was driving the Porsche. But LeVin has a history of driving fast and recklessly. He was busted for a similar case in Chicago before the February 13 crash.
"It was always a great leap to me to say there's this incident with an expensive white Porsche killing a couple tourists and it just so happened to have been driven by a friend instead of its actual owner," says Miles.
Miles' law partner, Stuart Grossman, told Juice last April that police were on Cook's trail and close to arrest. That hope was a bit premature, but Miles credited local police and prosecutors: "I suspected this was going to happen. I knew that [LeVin and Cook] were both guilty and that the police hadn't given up on it. I had some faith in the system."
Miles spoke briefly with Claire Elford, widow of Craig Elford. "She had the same reaction I did: It's good to see the criminal justice system work."
