PARKLAND, Fla. – The Broward Sheriff’s Office released more information Wednesday about a deadly crash in Parkland.
According to BSO spokeswoman Miranda Grossman, someone called 911 around 11 a.m. Monday to report that a vehicle was submerged in a canal near the intersection of Pine Island Road and Nob Hill Road.
Grossman said BSO deputies, BSO divers, along with Coral Springs Fire Rescue and Coral Springs divers responded to the scene and found the vehicle submerged in a canal behind a residential community.
According to Grossman, the Coral Springs Dive Team found the body of Dilton Florezel Lai, 51, of Fort Lauderdale, inside the 2021 Honda Accord.
Lai’s body and the car were then pulled from the water by BSO’s Dive Team.
BSO’s Traffic Homicide Unit is investigating what led up to the crash.
Grossman said their preliminary investigation has revealed that Lai was driving northwest on Pine Island Road around 4:37 a.m. Monday “when he failed to stop at the T-shaped intersection at Nob Hill Road.”
“For unknown reasons, Lai drove over the raised curb, into the grass and launched over and into the canal. The vehicle became fully submerged and was discovered later that morning,” Grossman wrote in a news release.
The investigation remains ongoing.