NORTH LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The man responsible for the crash on Monday that sent the Broward Sheriff’s Office Air Rescue helicopter to respond to a scene in North Lauderdale is expected to appear in Broward County Court.
Josue Efrain Cardoza Murcia, 20, of Tamarac, was driving a Ford Mustang through the intersection of South State Road 7 and Prospect Road when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed, according to the arrest form.
He hit a mother and her 4-year-old son standing at a bus stop.
At the scene, surveillance video shows the car as it hits the boy, then the car rolls backward to a stop. The driver then continues backing up as he runs over the boy.
WARNING: Some viewers may find surveillance video disturbing.
The driver then gets out of the car and walks away toward the front of the car and near the bus stop, apparently unaware that the child is under the car.
Eventually, a woman sees the boy and screams for help as a man comes to assist her.
A records check confirmed that Cardoza had never been issued a driver’s license.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office Fire Rescue helicopter was dispatched around 8:41 a.m. to the crash scene but only a few minutes after the chopper took off, Pilot Daron Roche radioed to say they were going to be forced to head back and that ground transport would have to respond.
The helicopter crashed into an apartment building at 8:45 a.m. in the area of North Dixie Highway and Atlantic Boulevard.
Fire Rescue Captain Terryson Jackson, who was onboard the helicopter, died. Lurean Wheaton, 65, was killed when the helicopter crashed into the apartment building where she lived.
Roche and firefighter/paramedic Mikael “Mike” Chaguaceda, 31, escaped the crash. Two other people who were injured on the ground were taken to Broward Health North and have since been released.
The child’s condition is not known at this time.