Maiky Simeon Miami man driving the wrong way along Florida’s Palmetto Expressway crashes in head on collision, killing all 5 passengers of other vehicle. Man who had driver’s license previously revoked survives crash.
A man who drove his vehicle going the wrong way along a Florida expressway remains in critical condition after colliding head on with another car, killing all five passengers. The incident which occurred over the weekend comes after reports of the man having his driver’s license revoked nearly a decade ago.
Maiky Simeon, 30, was driving east in the westbound lanes of the Palmetto Expressway near Miami in an Infiniti sedan around 4:30 a.m. Saturday when he smashed head-on into a Honda sedan.
Everyone inside the sedan — four women and one man ranging in age from 18 to 25 — was killed ‘upon impact’ in the wreck, authorities said. Despite none of the victims being publicly identified, social media tributes suggest their names were Valeria Cáceres, Valeria Peña, Daniella Marcano, Briana Pacalagua and Giancarlo Arias.
Read one social media posted in Spanish: ‘Today 5 lives are no longer part of this earthly plane, 5 lives full of dreams, goals and purposes today will no longer be part of us.
‘It hurts a lot to know that such young and talented people will not be able to achieve what they had one day dreamed but it hurts me more to know that family, friends and all their loved ones will have to go through immense pain.’
Wrong way driver had previous history of driving infractions
Images from the scene show both cars badly damaged after coming to rest in the roadway.
Simeon was badly injured and airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he remains hospitalized at a trauma unit, as detectives try to piece together where he was prior to the crash, WPLG reported.
According to the Miami Herald, Simeon has not been in possession of a valid driver’s license since 2014, when he was arrested for going 109 miles per hour in a 70mph zone.
Since then, Simeon had driver’s license suspended, before eventually reinstated.
Records show Simeon nevertheless going on to and rack up a number of driving violations, including speeding, running red lights and failing to yield at an intersection. It remained unclear how the man was able to retain his license.
At the time of Saturday’s crash, Simeon was in possession of a valid license.
Of note, a prior girlfriend described him as ‘psychotic’ and ‘obsessive’ in seeking out a restraining order.
So far, troopers have not disclosed what factors may have caused Simeon to drive the wrong way, but they say their investigation is ongoing.
Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Alex Camacho said it had yet to be determined if Simeon was impaired at the time of the crash. Simeon now faces five counts of vehicular homicide and may face additional charges.
