The suspect involved in a violent wrong-way crash on I-95 that killed four people last month was arrested and officially charged Wednesday, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Willie Dumel, 25, was charged with four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of driving with a suspended license, FHP spokesman Joe Sanchez said.
VIDEO: Police Determine True Identity of Suspect in I-95 Crash
Dumel spent the past month at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood recovering from injuries he sustained in the April 3 crash that happened as he was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of the highway between Ives Dairy Road and Hallandale Beach Boulevard, authorities said.
But he left his hospital bed for a cell at the Miami-Dade County Jail Wednesday.
“I think he did just about everything that he could within his powers to stay here, ’cause the only place he was leaving, leaving this hospital, was straight to jail,” Sanchez said.
Opa-locka Police said the incident began with a pursuit of the suspect in Opa-locka and ended on the highway when Dumel crashed head-on into a Kia minivan, killing four family members inside.
Victims in I-95 Wrong-Way Crash Identified By FHP
Dennis Ryan Rinon Ortiz, 33, of California was driving the minivan at the time of the crash, the FHP said. Lily Marie Azarcon, 26, of the Philippines and siblings Albertson Anthony Almase, 31, and Kristina A. Almase, 26, were the minivan passengers who were also killed in the crash.
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