Witness recalls horror of Tesla crash that killed teens
Larry Groshart was waiting in his Fort Lauderdale driveway for a friend to arrive when he saw a Tesla sedan crash into walls that frame his neighbor’s entrance gate.
The collision Tuesday night would leave two young men dead in the fiery wreck, a third man hospitalized and prompt a federal investigation into the crash and the electric car the three were riding in.
“I heard the tires squealing and saw the vehicle hit and sideswipe the first wall,” Groshart said Thursday about the crash at 1313 Seabreeze Blvd. “I saw it hit the second wall, a rounded wall, and saw it immediately burst into flames.”
The force of the crash left a vertical gash in the high white wall. The 2014 gray Tesla Model S sedan lost two wheels as it continued traveling about 200 feet southeast across five lanes to the other side of the boulevard, Groshart said.
“It was burning the entire time,” the retiree said. “It hit the lamppost, destroyed the lamppost and continued burning.”
Inside the sedan were driver Barrett Riley, of Fort Lauderdale, and front-seat passenger Edgar Monserratt Martinez, of Aventura, both 18, and who died at the scene, police said. Ejected from the Tesla was Alexander Berry, 18, of Fort Lauderdale, who remained hospitalized and in fair condition Thursday.
Skid marks, bouquets and pink investigator’s paint marked the walls where the crash began.