Pickup driver killed in early morning crash

People living in a Miramar neighborhood near North Perry Airport were awakened early Tuesday by the sound of a violent crash in which a white pickup truck smashed into a tree.

It happened about 2 a.m. at Pembroke Road and Oleander Drive, just east of University Drive and just south of the general aviation airport.

“The vehicle was eastbound on Pembroke Road when the driver lost control of his vehicle,” said Miramar police spokeswoman Tania Rues. “He drove off of Pembroke Road and into a tree.”

Residents who went outside to see what happened found the pickup wrapped around a tree in front of their row of apartments. The force of the crash launched the truck’s battery out of the engine compartment and sent it flying 10 to 15 feet toward Scott Gentilesco’s SUV.

“He hit the tree and wrapped around the tree right there and then the battery hit my car, with battery acid all over,” said Gentilesco.

“If the tree hadn’t been there it [the truck] would have gone right into my [apartment],” he said.

Gentilesco, 53, has been living in the 7700 block of Pembroke Road for a couple of years and said this is not the first crash that has happened outside his front door.

“I’ve seen, since I’ve been here, maybe five or six,” he said. “Nothing like this, though, no fatalities. But this is a bad one.”

At the request of his family, police did not release the identity of the driver.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.