Miami Gardens

Driver nearly 4 times legal limit in fatal Miami Gardens DUI crash: Police

Yves Erold Altieri, 53, of Opa-locka, surrendered to authorities Tuesday and was booked into jail on charges of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide, Miami Gardens Police said

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A driver who was nearly four times the legal limit when he crashed into a Miami Gardens construction site last month, killing a worker, has surrendered to face DUI manslaughter and other charges, police said.

Yves Erold Altieri, 53, of Opa-locka, surrendered to authorities Tuesday and was booked into jail on charges of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide, Miami Gardens Police said.

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Yves Erold Altieri
Miami-Dade Corrections
Yves Erold Altieri

The crash happened around 8:30 p.m. back on Nov. 18 and left 31-year-old Eduardo Meridas Llanas dead, police said.

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According to an arrest report, the incident began when Altieri slammed into a car parked at a red light on Northwest 27th Avenue at Northwest 183rd Street.

The other driver pulled over and tried to make Altieri stop but Altieri fled, the report said.

Altieri was followed by the other driver who eventually stopped as Altieri was "driving erratically at a high rate of speed, changing lanes aggressively, swerving between vehicles, and forcing other drivers to brake abruptly to avoid collisions," the report said.

A short time later, Altieri crashed into the construction zone in the 16400 block of Northwest 27th Avenue.

A construction worker, Llanes, had just arrived and had unbuckled his seatbelt to get out of his vehicle when Altieri's speeding car slammed into his vehicle from behind, the report said.

Two other workers who were standing nearby had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.

Llanes was airlifted to Aventura Hospital with serious head and neck injuries, and was pronounced dead on Nov. 21

Altieri was also hospitalized and while at the hospital, he showed signs of being drunk "including a strong odor of alcohol coming from his breath and/or person, bloodshot-glassy eyes, slurred speech, and confusion," the report said.

A toxicology report showed he had a blood alcohol level of .305, nearly four times Florida's legal limit of .08, the report said.

Investigators also found Altieri was driving with only a learner's license, the report said.

Altieri later told police he didn't remember being involved in the first crash, the report said.

Altieri was booked into jail and appeared before a judge Wednesday, who appointed him a public defender and set his bond at $150,000.

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