Suspected hit-and-run driver tussles with deputies in court
Families mourn two girls killed in crash
WILTON MANORS — The driver accused of veering around a bus and plowing into a group of children, killing two and injuring four others, scuffled with deputies in a brief but dramatic court appearance Wednesday after his arrest the day before.
Sean Charles Greer, 27, was taken into custody after evidence left at Monday’s crash scene at 2417 NW Ninth Ave. in Wilton Manors led detectives to him.
Greer was booked into the Main Jail on Tuesday evening.
Greer caused a bit of a disturbance during his first court appearance Wednesday morning. He was led away by deputies after it seemed he objected to attending the proceeding. Court was delayed for about a minute while Greer was taken out of the courtroom.
“We seem to have lost him for a moment,” Judge Joseph Murphy said.
Seconds later a deputy told the judge, “Your honor, he stepped away. He didn’t want to come back before the judge.”
Greer’s court-appointed public defender said he suffers from asthma, depression and insomnia. Greer was ordered to be held on no bond for two probation violations, and was ordered to appear before a judge at 8:30 a.m. Thursday for one of the probation violations.
Shortly before 3 p.m. Monday in the 2500 block of Northwest Ninth Avenue, a city bus stopped to drop off a passenger and pulled out to continue driving south.
Deputies said the car driven by Greer, a 2009 Honda Accord sedan, approached the bus from behind and wouldn’t allow the bus to merge into traffic. Greer’s Accord then veered around the bus, nearly hitting the bus’ front driver’s side.
Greer then drove the car off the road and onto the sidewalk, the Sheriff ’s Office said, where he hit the group of children, who were all related to each other.
The Sheriff ’s Office identified the two girls who were killed as Andrea Fleming, 6, and Kylie Jones, 5. The others — Draya Fleming, 9; Audre Fleming, 2; Laziyah Stokes, 9; Johnathan Carter, 10 — all were hospitalized with injuries at Broward Health Medical Center.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Stephen Gollan said Monday that two of the injured children were in critical condition.
A GoFundMe page has been established to help pay funeral costs for Kylie Jones.
“i will always love my daughter and will never stop and i will prevail and seek justice amongst the person responsible,” the girl’s mother wrote.
A GoFundMe page also has been set up for Andrea and Draya Fleming.
“I’m in the worse condition ever as a mother and don’t know how I’m going to prepare myself mentally to fight and keep a smile for the rest of my children,” their mother wrote.
After Monday’s hit-and-run, law enforcement agencies released a description of the Honda Accord, leading officials to the car at 2512 NW Ninth Lane, which the Sheriff ’s Office said is Greer’s address. When detectives found the car, its front bumper was missing, consistent with a bumper found at the crash scene, according to the Sheriff ’s Office.
The duplex with Greer’s address is in a wooded lot almost directly behind the apartment complex where the hit-run occurred.
The Sheriff’s Office Violence Intervention Proactive Enforcement Response detectives found Greer, who confessed to being responsible for the crash, according to the Sheriff ’s Office.
A woman answered the door at the duplex on Wednesday morning and identified herself as Greer’s roommate of four months, but refused to give her name.
She said that on Monday, Greer texted her “You don’t know whose car it is.” When he got home he told her “he was hosed,” she told the Sun Sentinel. “He said he hit another car.”
He told her his bumper came off, but “I figured it out,” she said. “When the cops came, I told them who he is.”
The arrest report said Greer removed his license plate in an attempt to conceal the car’s involvement in the crash.
Greer is facing two counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving death, two counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury, two counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving injuries, tampering with evidence, four counts of driving without a license causing death and serious bodily injuries, and driving with a suspended license, according to deputies.
Assistant State Attorney Ross Weiner said Greer’s Florida drivers license has been suspended since 2016. Weiner also listed several arrests for Greer dating back to 2013, including possession of cannabis, petty theft and driving with a suspended license.
In August 2012, Coral Springs police arrested Greer on charges of driving without a valid driver license, driving without lights at night and resisting an officer without violence.
A year later, Broward Sheriff ’s Office deputies picked up Greer on charges of operating without a valid license and operating an unsafe vehicle, court records show.
And again in May 2015, Margate Police charged Greer with driving with a suspended license and driving a car without lights at night.
Three months later, deputies arrested Greer on a warrant after he failed to appear in court for the case, court and arrest records show.
According to Greer’s Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles driver record, his license remained suspended for failing to pay required court fees.
Greer is on probation for burglary in Broward County, the Sheriff ’s Office said.
In 2019, Greer was convicted for felony burglary after breaking into a home and stealing a PlayStation video game console that he pawned soon after the theft. In 2017, he had a misdemeanor petty theft arrest related to shoplifting at a Kohl’s department store. Also in 2017, he had a felony arrest for possession of cannabis with intent to sell.
In 2016, Greer was arrested for causing a disturbance at a La Quinta hotel and used racial slurs against the African American arresting officer, according to the arrest report.
Greer also was involved in a domestic violence case in 2014, but the woman didn’t appear in court to finalize the charges. However, among her allegations were that Greer threatened to kidnap her child and would come to her house banging on doors and windows. She said he once called her 30 times in a 24-hour period despite having a no-contact order.