The Palm Beach Sheriff released some details from the bicycle-SUV collision at the corner of SW 18th and Lyons. According to their report, the bicycle was traveling in the crosswalk from the northeast corner to the northwest corner (right to left in the picture above) when it was struck by a 2009 Chevy Equinox, indicating an address in the Kings Point community in Delray Beach. That vehicle drove off but was found a short distance away, unoccupied.
The bicyclist, Beth Jamine (44), was initially reported in critical condition. That has apparently been upgraded to serious. It is our understanding that Ms. Jamine suffered from some fractures, a pneumothorax, and may need surgery, but she is likely to recover well.
Ms. Jamine’s reported address is in the Isle of Boca Dunes on the west side of Lyons Road at SW 8th, not far from the accident scene.
PBSO indicated the driver is unknown. The address they attribute to the vehicle is owned, according to property appraiser records, by Richard and Harriete Birnbaum. That record shows a Brooklyn mailing address for them.
If any readers have leads on the driver please let us know or contact PBSO Investigator Sean Ramsey.
Tag: accident
Hit and Run at 441 & Kimberly? Victim Identiified
Late last night we learned there had been a serious accident at the intersection of 441 and New England, which is between Glades and Yamato at the north end of Boca Greens plaza.
The initial report we had just before 11:30 pm was:
New England Blvd & State Road 7 — PBCFR station 54 on-scene of a motorcyclist hit by a van that fled the scene, advising Priority-1 Trauma Alert to Delray Medical Center by ground, suspect vehicle is a silver van Hispanic male driver — Tac 4A
Shortly thereafter we had an update:
State Road 7 will be shut down, both directions, from Yamato Rd to Kimberly Blvd for a couple hours at least, for an active Traffic Homicide Investigation
This morning we received an update from the Sheriff. Their report did not mention the van or anything else about a hit and run.
V-1 was westbound on New England Boulevard, approaching US Highway 441 in the right turn lane. V-1 made a heavy braking application before reaching the intersection, which resulted in the vehicle overturning onto its right side. The motorcycle slid through the intersection on its side and came to rest on the west side of US 441, within the westbound lanes of Boca Green (Entrance to a gas station). The operator of the motorcycle was not wearing a helmet and was ejected from the motorcycle. He was transported to Delray Medical Center for treatment.
New England is the north side of Boca Greens plaza, and it is where the gas station is located.
They did identify the motorcycle driver as James Andrew Bishop, age 20, a resident of The Colony in Delray Beach. He is an Olympic Heights graduate.
Friends of Mr. Bishop gave us an update on his injuries:
He’s in the Trauma ICU at the Delray Medical Center in critical condition. Skull fractures and a few other head injuries.
Note that the PBSO report indicated Mr. Bishop was in serious condition, rather than critical.
There are a couple of discrepancies in the story that we can’t resolve at this point. We checked with our contact at PBSO who had also initially heard about a van leaving the scene and did not know why it’s not in the report. The way the report is written suggests that there was no van involved.
We’re not sure why but we see a lot of accidents in this area. Last May there was another motorcycle accident there. And there was a fatal accident very close to this in the southbound lanes in August.
Just north of this at Yamato there was a rollover accident in November.
Big Crash on Palmetto Park Road – Photos
There was another major crash on Palmetto Park Road near the bridge over the Turnpike. Readers sent us several photos from the accident scene. The black vehicle hit a tree in the median and knocked it over. You can see the trunk of the tree in the roadway in the photo below.
One reader who saw it happen said:
“It was terrible a car in the median. A car going east bound totaled. A car going west bound totaled too, and a whole palm tree in the middle of the street going west.”
Another said it looked like “the black car in the tree was traveling high speed and was cut off.”
Below is a shot of the second car, also badly damaged.
The county scanner indicated a call around 5:30 pm which fits with the timing we have on this:
Traffic on Palmetto Park westbound was backed up a long way for hours according to several readers, and confirmed by Google Maps:
So far we haven’t heard about any injuries. We do see airbag deployments in both cars so hopefully injuries were not too bad.
From some accounts there may have been a third car involved but we’re not sure.
More photos below:
Fatal Accident Driver Identified: Matt Hale
Update: There are several comments at bottom from a “Kip Reed”. We have determined that this is a “troll” or fake person. There are a few other comments from another troll, with names K.Gero, Troll Much, and “Your new best friend”. Those comments should be ignored
The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office has identified the driver who was killed yesterday on Glades Road near the Boca West entrance. Matt Hale, age 21, was a resident of Boca Raton and was originally from Virginia. His mother Velma Hale-Brown (pictured with Matt below) lives in Boca Raton and works in Broward County. The best address we have for her is in San Marco at Broken Sound near Military Trail and Yamato.
The PBSO investigation reports:
[Hale] was traveling westbound on Glades Road, west of Jog Road, at a high rate of speed. The driver lost control of his vehicle; thus, the vehicle exited the westbound travel lanes and overturned upon entering the northern shoulder. As the vehicle overturned, on the shoulder, it impacted into a tree. The driver was pronounced deceased on-scene by Palm Beach County Fire Rescue personnel.
One of our readers witnessed the accident. As he put it:
He was driving too fast and moving in and out of his lane. … When he caught up to the car in front of him he swerved very fast around that car. … He lost control, bounced on the median a couple of times and literally flew back across 3 lanes through some 10 foot tall hedges and slammed roof first into a big tree. Fortunately he did not hit any other cars and he was alone in the SUV. He was killed instantly.
The big miracle was that he bounced right instead of left. He would have ended up in the oncoming traffic in the eastbound lanes and a head-on collision.
The report indicates Mr. Hale was in a Ford F-150, which is a pickup rather than an SUV. We heard both from witnesses. It’s possible it had a cap on the bed, which might explain that confusion.
The report is very brief so not all details are clear. There is a check box for Seatbelt and it is not checked, suggesting Mr. Hale was not wearing one. Also, contrary to what some suggested, the box for Alcohol/Drugs is also not checked so it appears he was not impaired. There is no mention in the report of texting or other distracted driving.
Motorcycle Accident at Palmetto & Winikoff: Photos
We hate to break in on Charlotte the Wonder Puppy’s April Fool’s takeover of West Boca News, but there was a serious accident today.
Several readers reported a motorcycle accident in front of Logger’s Run Middle School. After our initial report on Facebook we received more information.
Also, we happened to be in the area before 7 pm and two vehicles were on the back of a flatbed ready to be taken away. Unfortunately this is not a great angle but it appears the motorcycle suffered heavy damage.
You can also see airbag deployment and a major gash in the rear quarter panel of an Infiniti coupe.
With that point of impact on the car, we suspect the accident was caused by the motorcyclist.
Multiple readers reported various details:
I saw it happen. Bike was 20-30 feet up in the air. The rider is lucky to be alive IMO. Thankfully he was wearing a helment and landed on the grass.
He was wearing a helmet thank goodness! I was the second person there. Wrist injuries and some bad road rash. He was very lucky.
As of right now, he has 2 broken wrists and is stable.
West Boca student he said. He was alert.
The incident appears to have occurred at or near the southeast corner of the intersection of Judge Winikoff and Palmetto Park Road, with the motorcyclist’s body traveling east from the point of impact.