Man charged with vehicular homicide in fatal high-speed crash

HOLLYWOOD — A Pembroke Pines man has been charged with vehicular homicide and reckless driving in connection with a highspeed crash in Hollywood that took place almost two years ago.

Yeral Andalia Rodriguez, who was arrested Monday, was behind the wheel at the time of the October 2018 collision. Claudia Pena, a 17-year-old passenger in his vehicle died in the crash, records show.

Rodriguez, then 19, was driving a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt at 78 mph in a 40-mph zone and weaving around other cars on eastbound Sheridan Street on Oct. 29, 2018, according to the arrest report.

Surveillance video from a nearby business showed Rodriguez losing control of the car, crossing over the raised concrete median into the westbound traffic lanes, and crashing into two oncoming cars in the 4600 block of Sheridan St. at about 8:30 p.m.

Upon impact, the Cobalt was propelled upright at a near 90-degree angle before falling onto a roadside swale, additional surveillance video showed.

The Cobalt’s airbag control module revealed Rodriguez was traveling at 78 mph about five seconds prior to impact, and at 67 mph at the time of impact, police said.

Pena, who was wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene. The Broward Medical Examiner’s Office determined she died of blunt force injuries as a result of the crash.

Neil Deutsch, who was driving one of the two cars hit by the Cobalt, was hospitalized with injuries that included fractures of his sternum, clavicle and several ribs.

At Rodriguez’s first court appearance Wednesday, he was ordered held in the Broward County Jail on bonds totaling $95,000, records show.