Even with DUI checkpoints and saturation patrols by Broward Sheriff's Office over the past couple of days, Labor Day weekend still ended up being a deadly one with two fatal accidents occurring, at least one of them likely caused by an impaired driver.
In the early morning Monday, a Toyota Tundra driving on the wrong side of the road collided with a Toyota Camry on Oakland Park Boulevard. The driver in the Camry was killed, and BSO homicide investigators believe the driver of the Tundra may have been impaired.
According to a BSO report, Audrey Williams Ives, 44, of Lauderdale Lakes, was driving eastbound on Oakland Park Boulevard in a black Camry around 5:30 a.m. on Labor Day when a silver Tundra was spotted heading westbound.
A witness told investigators he spotted the Tundra driving on the wrong side of the road just as they exited I-95. The witness tried alerting the driver of the Tundra by honking his horn, police say. The Tundra failed to heed the honking and crashed head-on into the Camry in the 1900 block of Oakland Park Blvd.
Ives was pulled from the wreckage by Oakland Park Fire Rescue, where she was pronounced dead at the scene. According to the BSO report, Ives' birthdate is listed on September 10, which means she would have turned 45 on Thursday.
The driver of the Tundra, Javier Landron, age 46, was transported to Broward Health Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.
"The investigation continues," said BSO spokeswoman Keyla Concepción on Monday.
Meanwhile on Friday, BSO says a driver tried to flee the scene of a separate collision on Friday night but lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tree. The man, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to BSO traffic homicide detectives, that fatal crash happened around 10:40 p.m. Friday at the intersection of North Federal Highway and NE Tenth Street. The man was heading northbound on Federal Highway and waited to turn left onto NE Tenth. Catherine Manley, 22, was driving in a Toyota Yaris, heading southbound on Federal Highway, when the man moved into the Manley's path and collided into the Yaris.
The man then fled the scene of the accident and drove against oncoming traffic into the eastbound lanes of NE Tenth Street, police say. He then crossed over into the westbound lanes and lost control of his vehicle. The vehicle then rolled over and hit a tree.
Pompano Beach Fire Rescue responded and pronounced the man dead at the scene. Manley and the person riding with her in the Yaris were transported to Broward Health North with
