MONROE COUNTY, Fla. — A man driving a Maserati was arrested Monday night on many charges including DUI after crashing into another car leading to the death of an 85-year-old woman.
According to Florida Highway Patrol, a silver Maserati, driven by 43-year-old Mike Muthama, and a black Volkswagen SUV were driving north on U.S. 1. But while traveling along the Seven Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys, Muthama tried to pass the SUV but failed, troopers explain.
This caused the front of the car to crash into the back of the SUV, FHP reports.
One of the passengers of the Volkswagen, 85-year-old Amparo Huaman, ended up dying from her injuries following the crash. The Peru native lived in Miramar, her grandson explained to the Miami Herald.
The other four people in the car, including Huaman's 15-year-old granddaughter, her older sister and both parents, were taken to the hospital with serious injuries, the newspaper reports.
Hauman's grandson Braulio Hashimoto, 27, was reportedly driving two cars behind his family when the crash happened.
FHP says the Maserati continued to travel north after the initial collision, crashing several times with the concrete traffic barrier before erupting in flames.
“In a matter of a minute, two minutes tops, the car was completely in flames,” he said to the Miami Herald.
When troopers spoke with Muthama, he reportedly told them he didn't remember what happened. An incident report from FHP says the trooper noticed the driver has bloodshot eyes and smelled like alcohol.
After performing field sobriety exercises, Muthama was arrested for DUI and taken to the Monroe County Jail. He's facing charges of negligent manslaughter, causing serious bodily harm and seven counts of driving drunk.
The driver of the SUV told troopers that she saw the Maserati weaving in and out of the northbound travel lane ahead of her before the crash. The incident report says she was able to get ahead of Muthama when another lane opened until her car was hit from behind.
FHP says before the crash happened, the sheriff's office received a "Be On The Lookout" (BOLO) alert of a Maserati "traveling north at a high rate of speed and going in and out of traffic..."
