A resident notified us of a serious accident that took place on 441 Friday. Several media sources have reported on it, including the Sun-Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post.
Unfortunately the media scrum leads to inaccuracies and key facts are disputed by one of the passengers (below). On a less controversial level, the Post described one of the vehicles as a “2010 Mercury Grand Am.” Most likely this was really a Grand Marquis, as the Grand Am was a Pontiac model that hasn’t been made since the 2005 model year.
Another source described one of the drivers, Vivian Schwartz (pictured above) in its headline as a “realtor.” From what we can tell, Ms. Schwartz is actually a businesswoman affiliated with Zeus Footwear and JS Shoes LLC. While she may have a real estate license we don’t see any evidence she actively works in the field, nor for the brokerage she’s associated with.
Ms. Schwartz and her husband own a home in The Oaks, north of Clint Moore near 441. The media say she and her daughter were “seriously injured” in the accident, but her daughter Kayla’s Twitter account suggests otherwise. In the other vehicle, Thomas Giordano passed away and his wife was reportedly injured. The Giordanos appear to have been on their way home to a townhome neighborhood within Sandalfoot Cove, east of 441 off of SW 3rd Street (south of Palmetto Park Road).
The initial media accounts put the blame on Schwartz for allegedly running a red light, but it’s unclear at this point whether those accounts are afflicted with similar inaccuracies. Kayla vociferously disputes the media version on her Twitter page, KaylaRaq.
If you call yourself a “journalist”, make sure you have your facts straight before wrongfully accusing people in the local paper.
It should be noted that Kayla is a recent graduate of Olympic Heights with top honors.
We also found a video of Kayla on YouTube from an audition a few years ago. She’s quite talented.
West Boca News wishes the best to both families in this difficult time.
