Hialeah gunman kills himself after a mass murder
A man police have identified as the gunman in a mass shooting in Hialeah is the half-brother of former Major League baseball player Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez.
Gerardo Regalado was behind the murderous rampage at a Hialeah restaurant late Sunday that left four women dead and three others wounded in the city’s worst mass murder in its history, police said.
Regalado, 38, of Coral Gables, apparently committed suicide blocks from the mass killing.
Among those Regalado allegedly gunned down at Yoyito’s Cafe was his girlfriend, Liazan Molina, 24, Hialeah police said.
El Nuevo Herald has confirmed Regalado is the half-brother of the former New York Yankee pitcher. The two had the same mother.
Regalado has been mentioned by Hernandez in stories about Hernandez’s life in Cuba before he came to the United States to begin a career in 1998 with the Yankees.
Hernandez could not be reached for comment Monday.
Police have also released the names of Regalado’s other victims.
The dead: Molina, of Coral Gables; Maysel Figueroa, 32, of Hialeah; Lavina M. Fonseca, 47, of Hialeah; and Zaida Castillo, 56, of Hialeah.
The injured: Mayra Delacaridad, 55, of Hialeah Gardens; Ivet Coronado Fernandez, 36, of Miami; and Yasmine Dominguez, age and hometown unavailable.
Some of the victims worked at the eatery.
Regalado’s romantic problems with Molina may have led to the mass killings. His Facebook page features happy photographs of the couple, one posted as recently as noon the day of the shooting.
Molina’s profile describes her as married. Regalado’s profile picture shows him embracing Molina on a beachside picnic table, and Molina’s profile contains a photo of the two hugging, with a pink heart-shaped border emblazoned with the words “ Love You Honey!” “It’s a great tragedy,” said Humerto Hurta, a regular at Yoyito’s at 495 E. 49th St., a family-owned eatery which is famous for its arroz con pollo a la chorrera, described by some food critics as the best in Miami-Dade.
Monday morning, the shopping plaza where the restaurant sits remained locked down. A handwritten sign — “Closed. Cerrado.” — hung on the Yoyito’s front door.
Felix Fuentes, 42, showed up to try to get information on medical insurance for Coronado, his sister.
She remains in a coma at Jackson Memorial Hospital, shot twice — once in the chest and once on the side.
Fuentes said Coronado came from Havana four months ago to live with her mother in Hialeah. She has been working at the restaurant for a few months after getting the job through a friend.
Family members from Cuba were calling on his cellphone to check on how she was doing. She has already had two operations. Doctors say she may lose her arm, her brother said.
Coronado’s car was still in the parking lot.
Here’s how police say the deadly evening unfolded:
The shooting spree began with an argument between Regalado and Molina in the parking lot.
Regalado drew a .45-caliber pistol, shot Molina and then entered the restaurant “like a wild man, with a gun in hand, and began shooting indiscriminately,” said Eduardo Rodriguez, who works at the restaurant and said the details were given to him by others who were dining at the time.
Evidence suggests Regalado specifically targeted women, as there were at least two men in the restaurant, but neither was shot.
The three injured were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition.
Regalado was found a few blocks away — at 350 E. 45th St. — of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot from the same weapon he used to take four lives, police said.
He was found in a vehicle believed to have been taken from one of the victims.
One dead, four hurt in Florida auto accident
A Cottondale woman died, three children were seriously injured and the driver was critically hurt in a one-vehicle accident on Interstate 10 Saturday.
Kim B. Vickery, 46, was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola for treatment following the accident. She died of her injuries Sunday.
The driver, 47-year-old Kenneth G. Vickery, also of Cottondale, suffered critical injuries, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Children Lane Anderson 7, Zane Anderson, 5, and Kyle Vickery, 16, were all listed by the highway patrol with serious injuries.
According to the accident report, Kenneth Vickery was westbound near mile marker 63 in Okaloosa Countywhen he lost control of the 1998 Ford Contour he was driving.
Vickery was trying to move from the outside lane to the inside lane when he lost control of the vehicle, according to the highway patrol report.
The car started spinning clockwise, slid off the road and onto the shoulder, and turned over on its left side before striking a large pine tree, according to the report.
Officials did not initially know whether the occupants were wearing seat belts prior to the crash, and the case is still under investigation.
The report did not indicate the familial relationships between the occupants, if any.
Wellington, Florida woman killed in Turnpike accident identified
A Wellington woman who died early Monday morning in a one car accident on the Florida Turnpikehas been identified as Shanique Leshae Corbett.
The accident happened on the Turnpike, just south of Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando, when Emmylee A. Rousseau, 20, of Pembroke Pines lost control of the gold Lexus she was driving and veered into the median. She then over corrected, investigators said, struck the guardrail, and the car flipped twice. One woman who was ejected during the accident died at the scene.
Also riding in the car were: Walter Snell, 17, of Tallasahsee who had no injuries; Sharonda L. Dorvilus, 18, of West Palm Beach, who suffered minor injuries; Jeffrey Roberts, 17, of Altoona, who suffered minor injuries; and Jerry Stewart, 17, also of Altoona, who suffered serious injuries.
Investigators said the crash was not alcohol related.
Man, pregnant daughter killed in Florida boating accident on Memorial Day
A busy Memorial Day holiday at the beach along Volusia County turned tragic when two boats collided in Ponce Inlet, killing a DeLand-area man, his adult daughter and the woman’s unborn baby.
The crash occurred when a 25-foot boat ran over the top of a smaller boat at about 4 p.m., said Joy Hill, a spokeswoman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which is investigating the crash.
All of those killed were aboard the smaller boat, a 17-foot 2006 Sundance, Hill said.
She identified the three victims as Cyril J. Holley Jr., 46, his daughter, Madison Holley, 19, and her unborn child. Both lived at the same address on Hontoon Road near DeLand.
Hill did not know the gender of the unborn baby, but said the child was “just weeks away from being born.”
Three people told officers they were injured. Two of them were admitted to Bert Fish Medical Center in New Smyrna Beach, she said. Neither their names nor the extent of their injuries was released. The third person who was hurt refused treatment, Hill said.
It was not known which of the boats the injured where aboard.
There were seven people aboard the smaller boat and six on the other vessel, a 25-foot 1989 Chaparral, Hill said.
All of them were either related or knew each other, Hill said. “It’s very, very tragic,” she said.
Investigators are looking into the possibility that the wake from another boat might have contributed to the crash, said Hill, adding that fatal boating accident investigations “often take months to complete.”
The crash occurred in the Intracoastal Waterway, “right across from the Coast Guard station,” Hill said. It was just south of Disappearing Island, she said.
Disappearing Island is an area that forms from sandbars when the tide goes out, said Capt. Scott Petersohn of the Volusia County Beach Patrol. People like to go there “because there are no real rules about drinking,” he said.
Some of the victims were taken to Disappearing Island before rescue workers arrived, said Petersohn, whose agency used its boats to transport some of the occupants of the two boats to shore.
The beaches were packed Monday as locals and tourists alike celebrated the holiday that signals the beginning of summer.
“It was a crazy day today,” Petersohn said. “We had a huge crowd.”
Planes crash rattles residents around Clearwater Airpark
When it was built in 1939, the Clearwater Airpark was surrounded by orange groves and cow pastures. Fast forward more than 60 years, and today the single runway general aviation airport is surrounded tightly by neighborhood subdivisions on each side.
The airport services right around 50,000 aircraft each year, but on Sunday, one of those planes had trouble lifting off the runway, clipping a home’s roof before crashing in the backyard in a ball of flames.
No one on board the aircraft or in the home was killed, but the incident makes residents who live all around the airport nervous.
Sunday’s accident isn’t the first surrounding the Clearwater Airpark. The NTSB database shows at least 18 aviation incidents at or around the general aviation facility dating back to the 1980’s.
Pilots who use the airport say it’s a huge asset to the community and has turned out numerous pilots such as NASA astronaut Nicole Stott who attended an open house at the facility just last month.
Relatively, aviation is considered one of the safest forms of transportation, especially considering the number of car accident on roadways around Clearwater over the past 20 years.
Florida Bus Accident: DUI suspected in van/bus collision; 2 hurt
Two people, including a high school student, were hospitalized after a collision between a school bus and van. The accident occurred on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 in Brownsville, Florida, according to information provided by the Pensacola News Journal.
Reports indicate an Escambia County school bus was taking Pine Forest High School students home when the bus-van wreck occurred.
A van, whose driver was unidentified, was reportedly traveling northbound on Green Street. The bus, whose driver was also unidentified, was traveling westbound on West Avery. At approximately 12:40 p.m., the van sideswiped the driver’s side of the school bus for unknown reasons.
According to 25-year-old Justin Warner, “I ran up there to see if anyone was hurt then called 911… People do at least 40 (mph) around this corner everyday; it’s dangerous.” Warner was apparently smoking a cigarette outside his home when he witnessed the accident.
Emergency medical services (EMS) teams arrived at the scene to rush a student and the bus driver’s assistant to Sacred Heart Hospital. The extent of their injuries was not immediately clear.
The driver of the van managed to escape injury in the crash but was subsequently arrested. Officials from the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) allegedly believed alcohol might have been a factor in the collision. It was not stated if the van driver was formally charged with DUI after the incident.
Panama City Beach FL Motorcycle Accident: 4 injured in weekend bike collision
Just after Florida Governor Charlie Crist deemed the month of May to be Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month, four people suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle collision. The bike crash occurred in Panama City Beach, Florida early Sunday, May 2, 2010.
Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) troopers reported a traffic accident involving two motorcycles occurred at approximately 12:30 a.m. Motorcycle driver David S. Cross, 38, was allegedly northbound on a roadway near Bonita Street when he attempted to pull into Thomas Drive. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful in doing so. An eastbound motorcycle operated by Corey A. Thompson was traveling on Thomas Drive and consequently smashed into Cross’ northbound bike.
Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel were seemingly dispatched to the scene of the motorcycle wreck to rush the injured to area hospitals for treatment. Cross was taken to Bay Medical Center in serious condition. Thompson was also transported to Bay Medical Center but listed in critical condition. A passenger riding on Cross’ motorcycle, 24-year-old Laura Allen, suffered critical injuries and was taken to Gulf Coast Medical Center. Thompson’s bike passenger, 30-year-old Shawna Nicole Kelsey, was taken to Gulf Coast where she was listed in serious condition.
None of the motorcycle accident victims were wearing helmets at the time. Investigations into the injurious motorcycle collision are expected to be underway.
Bicyclist critical after North Fort Myers hit & run
A bicyclist was critically injured in a hit and run accident on Bayshore Road early Monday morning.
The Florida Highway Patrol is looking for the dark-colored pickup truck that struck 22-year-old David Mustonen around 1 a.m. near Glick Road.
Family members say Mustonen was on his way home from his job at Applebee’s when the accident happened.
“He texted me twice and called me on the phone to say happy Mother’s Day and he loved me,” said Mustonen’s mom, Sherri Helgerson.
Now, she says she’s on a mission to find out who hit her son.
“You hurt my kids, you hurt me and it’s on. That’s all I need to know. I will find out who did it eventually,” she said.
FHP says the truck was headed eastbound on Bayshore when it struck him.
While the driver didn’t bother to help, Mustonen’s aunt says his friend, Joel, immediately stopped after seeing the bike on the side of the road.
“He found him on the ground. David was trying to turn over and Joel just kept telling David, ‘Lay still,’ and David just kept telling him that he loved him,” said Shayni Cumbess.
Mustonen, the brother of six, is in critical condition at Lee Memorial Hospital, in a coma, with severe lung injuries and broken bones.
“He’s everything to my kids, he’s the hero, he’s the cool brother who plays the guitar. He’s the man,” said Helgerson.
“How can you leave a human being on the side of the road? It was Mother’s Day. How can you leave somebody’s child laying on the side of the road to die? That’s what they did is they left him to die,” Cumbess said.
Florida woman killed in single-car accident
One woman was killed and another injured in a single-vehicle crash near Ormond Beach, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Sgt. Kim Montes said 69-year-old Frances Starost was driving a Ford pickup west on State Road 40 from Chesser Hammock Road just after 6 p.m. Monday. Starost suddenly drove left of center on the roadway and overcorrected the truck, Montes said.
The pickup rotated clockwise and headed toward the north shoulder of the highway, going into a ditch.
The front end of the truck rammed into a tree and the truck overturned, Montes said, ejecting Starost and her front-seat passenger, Lyudmyla Starost, 58, who died at the scene, Montes said. Frances Starost suffered serious injuries.
The women came from Summerfield in Marion County; neither was wearing a seat belt, according to an FHP report.
The crash remains under investigation and charges are pending, Montes said.
Flagler County deputy injured in crash
A Flagler County deputy received minor injuries after causing an accident in his marked patrol vehicle.
The Florida Highway Patrol reports that Deputy Tyrone S. Ray was responding to a disturbance call in Palm Bay Friday evening. As the deputy tried to make a right turn, his brakes reportedly failed to slow him down. The sport utility vehicle overturned once, slid onto a shoulder and came to rest upright.
FHP reports that Ray was wearing a seat belt. He was not cited for the crash.
