Man fleeing officers crashed into car, ejecting and killing girl, 6, police say
A 26-year-old man was arrested Monday in connection with a crash in Coral Springs on Sunday afternoon that killed a 6-year-old girl, police said.
Chevon Graham, of Fort Lauderdale, was driving a 2023 Mercedes-Benz with two passengers shortly after 5 p.m. when an officer on patrol attempted to pull the car over near the 8500 block of West Sample Road, the police department said in a news release.
The officer driving behind Graham noted the windows on the Mercedes had “extremely dark” tint and followed the car as it made a U-turn on West Sample Road and Woodside Drive. He turned on his marked patrol car’s lights and sirens to make the traffic stop, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The Mercedes sped off when the officer turned on his emergency lights and sirens, and the police department said the officer “discontinued the traffic stop by immediately shutting off his emergency lights and siren,” in accordance with their pursuit policy.
Pursuits are not to be initiated for any traffic offenses, the police department’s policy says, and if a driver flees and the offense does not meet the criteria for a chase, officers must turn off their lights and sirens, notify dispatch and either turn away from the fleeing car or stop driving. The policy says officers are not to follow the path of the fleeing car unless they hear of or are informed of a crash.
The officer was attempting to make a 90-degree turn away from the fleeing Mercedes, as required by the department’s policy, when he saw the Mercedes speeding west on West Sample Road and Northwest 85th Avenue, the affidavit said.
The Mercedes crashed into a 2018 Chevrolet Traverse, police said in the news release, where a 6-year-old girl was “secured” inside the car in a car seat.
The impact split the car in half, ejecting the rear seat where the girl was, in her attached car seat, the affidavit said. The front half of the car was left in the intersection of West Sample Road and Northwest 85th Avenue while the back half came to a stop on a tree in the grass near the intersection, the affidavit said.
The girl after she was ejected landed between the tree and a dumpster near the apartment complex at the intersection’s corner, the affidavit said. After the initial crash, Graham’s Mercedes continued heading west on West Sample Road, left the road and crashed into two parked cars at 8521 W Sample Road.
The girl was airlifted to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, where she was pronounced dead. The driver of the Chevrolet was taken to Broward Health North in Deerfield Beach and was expected to recover. Their identities were not released and are redacted in the affidavit.
Graham, who was identified at the scene as the driver of the Mercedes-Benz, and the two passengers in his car were taken to Broward Health North. They were expected to recover, Coral Springs Police said.
Broward County jail records show Graham was being held in the North Broward Bureau as of Wednesday on charges of vehicular homicide, fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer causing injury or death, second offense driving with a suspended license, reckless driving causing serious bodily injury and reckless driving causing property damage.
Graham’s attorney information was not available Wednesday.
