Passenger dies when cars crash, sending one into wall of building

WEST PARK — A 20-year-old Lauderhill woman died early Friday after a car ran a red light and crashed into the vehicle in which she was a passenger, sending it into the wall of a beauty salon, Hollywood police said.

The accident happened about midnight at the intersection of South 56th Avenue and Pembroke Road in West Park.

Police said an officer observed a black Dodge Charger go through a flashing red light at the intersection of South 56th Avenue and Washington Street without stopping.

Before police could make a traffic stop, they say the Charger kept going on South 56th Avenue, ran a red light at the intersection of South 56th Avenue and Pembroke Road, and then crashed into the car in which Brittney Hemmings was a passenger, sending it into the wall of beauty salon.

Hemmings wanted to join the military. “She wanted to serve the country,” said her father, Gregory Hemmings. “That was her dream.”

Hemmings said his daughter, a native of Jamaica who’d been in the United States since 2015, had just gotten off work.

“She’d been picked up by her best friend,” he said. “She was taking her home.”

Hemmings said the woman with his daughter is hospitalized with spinal and liver injuries as well as internal bleeding.

Police said the driver of the Dodge Charger was arrested for driving with a suspended license. The name of the driver was not released.

Hollywood police are asking anyone with information to call them at 954-764-HELP (4357) or email at hollywoodpdtips@hollywoodfl.org, or Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477).