Now, here's an updated version of a story I read in yesterday's newspaper, from the State & Local section, about a woman in Broward County who displayed a fatal lack of common sense:
Man Detained After Woman Dragged to Death Following Florida Traffic Collision
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A man was being detained in New York for the death of a woman who was dragged for several miles under a minivan after trying to stop the driver from fleeing a collision, officials said Monday.Rule Number One: Do Not Tangle With Motor Vehicles. In any collision between an unarmored person and a motor vehicle, the person comes off second-best. When a driver has shown a reckless disregard for your property, it is foolish in the extreme to stand in front of his vehicle and assume that he won't show a reckless disregard for YOU. I'm sure her thought was, "He wouldn't DARE hit me!" She was wrong. Dead wrong.
Abdelaziz Bilal Hamze, 24, was detained on Delta flight 132 bound for Athens, Greece, Broward County Sheriff's spokesman Elliot Cohen said. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained him while the plane was pulling away from the gate at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, Cohen said.
Broward sheriff's deputies were en route to New York to interview Hamze, who is a U.S. citizen born in Lebanon, Cohen said. He will be charged with first degree murder, Cohen said.
"This was a brutal, senseless road-rage killing," said Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne told Local10.com. "Hamze's complete disregard for human life should outrage anyone in this community. His capture will ensure that he will pay for his brutality."
Hamze has been accused in the dragging death of 44-year-old Sandra Hall, of Fort Lauderdale. She was in a Cadillac struck by the minivan Sunday night, Broward County sheriff's officials said.
Local10.com reported that the accident occurred around 10 p.m. Sunday as Hall returned home from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Fla., with her fiance Michael Williams.
The minivan fled the crash scene, with the Cadillac in pursuit, authorities said. Hall stood in front of the minivan when both vehicles were stopped in traffic.
The station reported that when the minivan inched forward, Hall "jumped on the hood and I ran after the truck," Williams said.
"I tried to snatch her off the hood, but she said she's not letting him go nowhere," Williams told Local10.com.
The minivan's driver sped off after hitting Hall and tossing her onto the hood, authorities said. As the vehicle continued driving, Hall fell off the hood and became lodged underneath the minivan, officials said.
Hall was dragged for several miles before she fell from the undercarriage, authorities said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
I'm just glad that they caught the "alleged" murderer before he could escape justice, and I hope he gets the full measure of justice that he deserves.
