Wrong way crash on Palmetto kills five people. ‘Potential criminal investigation,’ FHP says

Four women and one man are dead after a wrong way crash on the Palmetto early Saturday morning near Miami Lakes.

According to Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Alejandro Camacho, a man in a silver Infiniti sedan was driving east in the westbound lanes of State Road 826 near Northwest 57th Avenue around 4:30 a.m.

That’s when he crashed head-on into a gray Honda sedan that was carrying the women and man. The crash killed all five, Camacho said.

Preliminary reports from the highway patrol had said the victims were all female. A correction was sent Saturday afternoon, along with the identity of the wrong way driver.

The wrong way driver was identified as Maiky Simeon, 30, and he was airlifted to Ryder Trauma with serious injuries. Simeon was stable Saturday afternoon, Camacho said.

Detectives are asking for the public’s help to help determine where Simeon was before the crash. If you know you are asked to call the Florida Highway Patrol at 305-470-2500.

Court records show that Simeon has several traffic citations dating between 2014 and 2017 on Miami-Dade County’s court records. The cases, all closed, include infractions that included speeding, failing to stop at a light and no proof of insurance. Simeon also had three criminal traffic charges for knowingly driving without a license and unlawful use of tags in 2016.

He also has one traffic infraction for operating a vehicle with unsafe or improper equipment noted in Miramar in Broward County in 2013.

In a petition for a protection order that has since been dropped, a girlfriend of Simeon accused him of abuse, harassment and stalking. His behavior was called “obsessive” and “psychotic”. It was also noted in the petition that he had a problem with alcohol.

Investigators have not named any of the victims in the Honda.

“This is potentially a criminal investigation,” Camacho said. “Victim ID’s will not be released anytime soon.”

Details on where the six people involved in the crash were traveling to and from have also not been released.

Early Saturday, Marc Chavers, division chief of Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, told local TV stations, including WPLG and NBC6, that rescue crews had to use the Jaws of Life to get the trapped driver out of his Infiniti, and that moments before the crash police got a call that a driver was heading in the wrong direction on the highway. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue told the Miami Herald that FHP is handling the investigation.

All westbound lanes that had been shut have reopened to traffic around 11:30 a.m., Camacho said, after some initial backup at the approach.

This story has been updated. The Florida Highway Patrol corrected its early reports to properly list the genders of the five victims in the Honda.

Miami Herald Reporters David Ovalle and Devoun Cetoute contributed to this report.