Man, teen detained after carjacking spurs Broward police chase and deadly crash: cops
A man and a 17-year-old boy were detained after police say they were part of a group that pistol-whipped a man and stole his Dodge Charger in Hallandale Beach last week. They led police on a 135 mph chase on Interstate 95 — ultimately causing a crash that killed a 68-year-old woman.
Patricia Schmelz, the woman who collided with them, subsequently died, Hallandale Beach police said.
Cody Lamar Clark, one of five passengers in the Charger and the only adult arrested, is charged with armed carjacking and causing a fatal crash while fleeing from police. The 20-year-old Collier County resident remained behind bars at Broward County’s Main Jail as of Tuesday evening.
It was not immediately known what charges the 17-year-old faces or whether he’s been booked into the jail.
The other teenage passengers in the Charger were a 14-year-old girl, a 16-year-old boy and two 17-year-old boys. According to probable cause affidavits, the teens were described as complicit in the carjacking.
The Miami Herald is not identifying the teens because they are minors.
Gold chain, shoes and an iPhone 13
Sometime before 10:20 p.m. Friday, Rider Prospere was sitting inside his gray 2014 Dodge Charger with a 14-year-old girl he met a week earlier, an affidavit read. It’s not what Prospere, 25, was doing with the teen in his car nor how they met in the first place.
As they were talking, Clark and the male teens forced their way into the car and pointed guns at Prospere.
The group pulled him out and began using the butt of multiple handguns to strike him in the forehead and mouth. The group demanded that he remove his clothes, as they took a gold chain, shoes, $100 to $200 and his iPhone 13. They continued to kick him repeatedly, the affidavit read.
One of the 17-year-olds then hopped into the driver seat of the Charger and drove off with the rest of the group.
Hallandale Beach police rushed to the 300 block of Northwest Third Street in response to a carjacking. A nearby resident gave Prospere something to wear and called 911, WSVN 7News reported.
“They hit me on the forehead,” Prospère told the TV station. “I was in shock.”
What led to fatal Pompano Beach crash?
Around 10:30 p.m., Hallandale Beach police officers trailed the Charger for an unspecified amount of time in the 300 block of Ansin Boulevard without turning on their emergency lights, according to Clark’s arrest report. The car cruised at 20 mph, and officers note the group took a moment to throw items out of the car.
Suddenly, the teen sped up and officers began a hot pursuit onto Interstate 95 from Hallandale Beach Boulevard with lights flashing and sirens blaring. It’s unclear how long officers chased them.
While fleeing at dangerous speeds, police and Broward deputies say the Charger exited the highway at West Copans Road.
When the Charger ran the red light to make a left turn, Schmelz’s 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe T-boned the Charger on its driver’s side as she drove on a green light around 11 p.m., the Broward Sheriff’s Office added in a statement.
The sudden collision caused Schmelz to be thrown into her windshield. Pompano Beach firefighters took her to a hospital, where she died.
Hallandale officers and BSO deputies detained Clark, the 17-year-old driver and the other four teens. In the Charger, police also found five guns, two of which were stolen.
Schmelz was heading to work at a hotel, one of her friends told WSVN 7News.
Glenn Schmelz, her brother, said he feels numb after learning that his sister died in a crash.
“I mean, it’s just, it still hasn’t settled in,” he told Local 10. “That should have never happened to her.”
