Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Woman held in ’16 DUI that killed cop
After hunting alligators in the Everglades, Christopher Sheehan drove his Jeep Wrangler home with buddy Jacob Snowhite along State Road 7 in Coral Springs late one summer night. Coming up behind them was Joselyn Lopez in a pink Dodge Challenger that rear-ended the Jeep, causing a fiery crash that killed Sheehan, authorities said.
Lopez, 30, of North Lauderdale, was taken into police custody Thursday.
At 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2016, Lopez had left a bar and was speeding and driving under the influence, according to police and court documents.
Sheehan, 30, a Fort Lauderdale police detective, died at the scene. Snowhite, a Fort Lauderdale firefighter/paramedic who tried to save his friend, was injured, a witness and court documents say.
Sheehan was a SWAT officer and engaged to be married when he died. A member of a family of police officers and firefighters in the city, Sheehan was eulogized with full honors in a funeral service at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts.
Snowhite was able to return to work, and is
currently a captain on the Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue hazardous materials team, his agency said.
Lopez is a letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service. She lives with her partner and the partner’s two children, her lawyer William Direnzo said in court Friday.
Lopez was driving the Dodge at 75 mph, 30 miles above the posted limit, near Wiles Road. Some 21⁄2 hours after the crash, her blood alcohol level was .08, just above Florida’s legal limit, an arrest report said.
Lopez was driving “in a reckless manner” and “was impaired beyond normal faculties,” which contributed to the crash,” according to the report.
Lopez is facing eight charges, including vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, reckless driving and causing serious bodily injury.
The state attorney’s office declined to say why it took so long to charge Lopez. In general, an office spokesman said in an email, vehicular homicide investigations are “very complex for both the investigating police agency as well as the prosecutors who must evaluate and make the ultimate filing decision.”
Case work often includes identifying witnesses, evaluating reconstructions of accidents, toxicology results and other evidence.
During a bond court hearing Friday, prosecutor Michael Horowitz sought a $601,000 bond, citing four instances when Lopez was cited for speeding and two arrests when she was accused of battery and petty theft from a department store. If convicted in the DUI manslaughter case, she could be sentenced to 22 years in state prison, Horowitz said.
Her lawyer, Direnzo, sought a $25,000 bond, and said his client brought home 80 percent of her family’s income and drove while delivering mail.
“She’s not going to drive,” Judge Christopher W. Pole said. “I don’t care [if it’s] for work or any other reason.”
Pole ordered Lopez to be put on house arrest with a GPS monitor and to undergo weekly drug and alcohol testing, with evaluation and treatment if necessary. He set a $47,000 bond. Lopez also must surrender her passport prior to her release from jail.