BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. – A Fort Lauderdale man was drunken driving when he caused a crash that killed a passenger in his car and injured her three children, police said.
Ronald Olson, 38, faces charges of DUI manslaughter, child neglect and DUI causing injuries or property damage in connection with the May 19 crash in Boynton Beach.
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According to a Boynton Beach police report, Olson drove through a stop sign at Seacrest Boulevard and Southeast Fourth Avenue. His 2010 Honda Accord slammed into a 2015 GMC Terrain at the intersection.
A witness to the crash told police Olson had just left the witness' home after drinking about five or six beers during the hour he was there. He believed "Olson had consumed more alcohol than he should have" and was too impaired to drive.
Robin Kirsch, who was a passenger in the front seat of Olson's car, died of her injuries at Delray Medical Center in Delray Beach. The 37-year-old woman's three children were also in the car at the time of the crash.
When Officer Dennis Castro interviewed Olson at Bethesda Hospital East, Castro noted that "Olson's speech was slurred and his eyes were bloodshot and glassy."
Olson told Castro he remembered stopping at the stop sign before the crash and admitted to having two or three beers before he left, "but nothing more."
When Castro asked Olson if he would consent to a blood-alcohol sample, Olson refused and said he "wasn't going to give it," so Castro "could take him to jail."
According to the report, Olson became argumentative and uncooperative with hospital staff, warning that he "was not going to provide his blood calmly and that officers would have to shoot him to obtain it."
Ultimately, police were able to obtain a blood sample from Olson against his will, thanks to a warrant from a Palm Beach County judge.
Police said Olson had a blood-alcohol level of .259%, well above the state legal limit of 0.08%.
During a June interview with Castro, assistant state attorney Laura Laurie and family attorney Sara Mammarella, Kirsch's children told investigators Olson and their mother had an argument and were leaving to go home at the time of the crash. They said Olson demanded the keys from Kirsch and was speeding, prompting their mother to yell at him and tell him he was driving like an "a--hole."
One of the children told investigators he looked at the odometer, saw the number 52 and remembered thinking, "Ron is going to kill us."
Olson was arrested Wednesday in Coral Springs and booked into the main Broward County jail.