4 killed when van rear-ended in Delray
Witnesses say it appeared pickup was going 100 mph on Federal when it hit van.
DELRAY BEACH — A 21-year-old who recently moved from Fort Lauderdale to Delray Beach and is in a pretrial diversion program for a burglary charge plowed into a minivan Saturday night, killing the four people inside.
Paul Wilson Streater, who was driving a Chevy Silverado truck, stayed at the scene and is cooperating with city police. He was allowed to go home while police continue their investigation.
Witnesses said it appeared Streater was driving at about 100 mph when he rear-ended the minivan that was in the southbound lane of Federal Highway waiting to turn east into the Tropic Isle community on La-Mat Avenue.
Streater’s attorney, Samuel Halpern, told The Palm Beach Post his client was not drinking and was not on drugs. Streater allowed investigators to take his blood. Streater was in the truck with his roommate, Halpern said.
“It’s a nightmare. I can just say that his heart is going out to the family and he couldn’t be more remorseful that this happened,” Halpern said. “It was an accident. He’s just extremely, extremely distraught.”
Streater is in a pretrial diversion program that the state attorney
in Broward County offered in his burglary case from November. He was arrested on a third-degree felony and pleaded not guilty. Streater and another person stole a television, containers of liquor in a cooler, tools and sunglasses, according to his arrest report.
“The state evaluated the case and they decided for a first-time offender and his age, they offered pretrial diversion,” Halpern said.
Halpern said the program lasts a year. At the end, the state attorney could decide to dismiss the charge, he said.
The names of the victims in the crash were not released Sunday but were expected to be released today, said police spokeswoman Dani Moschella.
The crash happened around 7:20 p.m. on South Federal Highway south of Linton Boulevard. Streater was driving at “a very high rate of speed” on Federal and swerved to avoid hitting traffic in front of him when he rear-ended the minivan, police said. The truck and the van crossed the median into the northbound lanes and collided with a Buick Encore. The vehicles stopped moving outside the Enterprise Rent-A-Car with the van between the two.
The van was left entirely disfigured. Parts of it were ripped off.
“It appeared it was a small motorcycle in between the two vehicles,” Dave Goodwin, who walked to the scene from his nearby home, said of the minivan. His son had driven by the crash and told him about it.
An employee of Delray Honda was outside with a customer when he saw the truck fly by. He heard what sounded like an engine rev. Then he heard the crash.
“I tried to run as fast as I could but there was nothing I could do,” he said. “By the time I made it over, they were dead.”
The man, who did not want to be named, said about a dozen others ran to help.
“There was a bunch of debris everywhere,” he said. “It was like a bomb.”
Throughout the day Sunday, residents came to the scene to see what they’d heard about. They solemnly viewed the remnants of the crash.
A man consoled a woman while they peered down at the skid marks, the bloodstains, the crash markings and the debris from the vehicles. With tears in her eyes, the woman declined to comment.
A destroyed headlight lay in the grass outside the Quality Lighting and Accessories store next to the Enterprise shop. A bouquet of yellow roses was placed on the ground.
Delray Beach Fire Rescue had to separate the vehicles before they could get to the van and used multiple hydraulic tools to get to the four people inside. Investigators stood in the extended bucket of a firetruck to get a good enough vantage point to take photos of the van.
Streater and the two people in the Encore had minor injuries. Streater’s passenger was taken to Delray Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries, Moschella said.
The employee from the Honda dealership said he took photos and videos of the crash and posted them on his social media accounts. Then he decided to take them down because of how “horrific” they were.
“It sucks, you know? I can only imagine the pain that family’s feeling right now,” he said.
Bystanders also snapped photos of who they believe was the driver of the truck.
He simply sat there, Goodwin said.
Halpern wouldn’t comment on whether Streater was speeding.
“Witnesses can be wrong,” he said.
Halpern wouldn’t speculate as to whether Streater will face charges for the crash.
“It’s up to the police whether they want to pursue a criminal case for this accident or not. It’s a question of do they legally believe that he was violating a criminal statute as opposed to a civil infraction,” Halpern said. “Unfortunately traffic accidents happen all the time and criminal charges are rare, and I would hope there are no criminal charges. If there are, then we’ll deal with it.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact investigator Henry Lugo at 561243-7800.