Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
ATV rider is critically injured
An ATV passenger died and an ATV driver was hurt in separate incidents this week as they rode illegally on paved streets in Broward County.
On Sunday in Pompano Beach, an ATV ride was fatal for passenger Miracle Griffin, 19, whose vehicle and a car collided at Northwest 17th Court and Northeast Second Terrace, the sheriff ’s office said.
On Wednesday, a man was critically injured after colliding with a Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue truck in Lauderhill, a city official said.
Wednesday’s crash happened about 11:10 a.m. at 4190 NW 26th Street.
Broward Sheriff’s Office collected evidence in the blocks between Northwest 41st and Northwest 43rd Avenues, Lauderhill Fire Rescue Capt. Jerry Gonzalez said. The neighborhood is west of State Road 7.
Authorities did not identify the rider. His brother said his name is Jerron Pratt, 31, a lawn service owner who was driving his son’s small ATV. He has internal injuries and will need surgery, according to his brother.
“It’s not a street legal ATV,” Jorrico Pratt said. “I think it was a freak accident.”
The ATV rider was in critical condition when a Lauderhill Fire Rescue ambulance took him to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, officials said.
Three Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue firefighter/paramedics were in the truck that was involved in the collision.
It is based in Lauderdale Lakes and they were racing, with lights and sirens on, to a call at the Cambridge Park Apartments, on the east side of State Road 7, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles said.
A witness told investigators the emergency vehicle approached the intersection and slowed down. “Out of nowhere an ATV appeared and struck the rescue truck,” Jachles said.
Personnel in the rescue truck were not injured and began treating the ATV rider, Jachles said. Two of those BSO paramedics joined Lauderhill’s ambulance crew when the rider was taken to the hospital, he said.