Hit-run suspect set to surrender
Tourist died after stopping for photo on Las Olas Blvd.
A woman who allegedly fled after fatally striking a tourist with her SUV along Las Olas Boulevard last month is scheduled to turn herself in today.
Regina Goodrich, 25, of Coral Springs, faces a felony count of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. She could go to prison for 4 to 30 years if convicted in the July 1 crash.
Witnesses told investigators that she was behind the wheel of her father’s 2009 Ford Escape when it struck and killed Miguel Soler, 58, of New Jersey, who had stopped on the north side of westbound Las Olas Boulevard to have his picture taken by his wife with boats in the background.
Soler, his wife and son were on the last night of a weeklong vacation. According to a crash report, they had stopped their rented 2016 Jeep Renegade partly in the bicycle lane and partly in the right lane of Las Olas Boulevard. As Soler was getting back into the Jeep, Goodrich, also traveling west, struck him, sending him two properties away from the point of im-
pact.
The initial crash report, which doesn’t name the driver but identifies her father as the owner of the Ford Escape, said the SUV continued westbound without stopping. The vehicle was found in the 300 block of Tarpon Drive — 10 blocks from the crash site — with significant damage to the front passenger side.
Defense attorney Elias Hilal said Goodrich, who until then was an assistant manager at a Fort Lauderdale restaurant, went to the police with her parents later the night of the crash, expecting to be interrogated or possibly arrested.
“Police wanted to question her, but she did not want to speak to them without having an attorney present,” said Hilal, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer who was retained the next day. “At that point police decided not to proceed. Ms. Goodrich has not been hiding.”
Fort Lauderdale police could not confirm that account Wednesday, citing the case as an open investigation.
Robert Pelier, the attorney representing the Soler family, said he is grateful that an arrest and surrender are imminent, but said it’s premature to speculate whether the charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident is adequate under the circumstances.
“Leaving the scene showed a grotesque disregard for human life,” he said. “It was inexcusable. But we still don’t have the traffic homicide report. There are things we don’t know, and until we do, it’s not fair to speculate about what police did, when they should have questioned or arrested her, or whether there should be other charges.”
Goodrich’s father, Michael W. Goodrich, became head women’s soccer coach at Broward College two years ago after spending 16 years as coach at Nova Southeastern University. He is active in youth soccer programs and is the co-founder of the Frankie Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the purchase and placement of automatic electronic defibrillators in area parks and recreational facilities.
Her mother, Joan Goodrich, is the economic development director of the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency and a former executive director of the Fort Lauderdale March of Dimes.
Regina Goodrich has volunteered for both the Frankie Foundation and the March of Dimes, her lawyer said.
The Broward State Attorney’s Office declined to answer questions about the case prior to Goodrich’s scheduled surrender.
Staff writer Mike Clary contributed to this report.
rolmeda@SunSentinel.com, 954-356-4457, Twitter @SSCourts and @rolmeda