Police in Florida say they suspect a matching set of yellow cars—a Lamborghini Murcielago and a Porsche 911 convertible—were speeding in Delray Beach on Wednesday when the Lamborghini crashed into a Buick Enclave driven by an elderly Uber driver. The crash claimed the Uber driver’s life.
This is sort of an unusual driving-supercars-too-fast wreck because of the ages involved: the supercar pilots were both over 60, and the Uber driver was 82. Also strange is how an attorney on the case likened statements from law enforcement to the recent police protests in other states that have zero to do with fast millionaires.
The Lamborghini driver is Roger Wittenberns, a multimillionaire health club mogul. His longtime girlfriend, Patty Ann McQuiggin, was driving the 911 after, according to a police spokesperson,
… he and his girlfriend were in the downtown area yesterday, they spent a few hours having lunch, having beverages.
Police believe that those “beverages” were alcoholic in nature.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports the Uber driver, 82-year old Gerald Smith, had stopped his Buick Enclave at a stop sign in an intersection when Wittenberns’ Lamborghini crashed into the front end of the car, causing severe damage to both cars. Smith is not suspected of having driven in any illegal manner. A police spokeswoman said Smith just “was trying to make a little extra money driving an Uber.”
WPTV News reports that Smith was taken to the hospital, where he died of his injuries. Wittenberns is currently hospitalized in serious condition.
News reports say McQuiggin drove away from the scene of the accident and ditched her Porsche in a nearby restaurant parking lot. It’s not clear how she got back home.
The Delray Beach Police Department is investigating the crash. No one has been charged in the case as of this writing. But both Wittenberns and McQuiggin have previous DUI charges on their records. According to the SunSentinel:
Authorities said he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.15 on Nov. 29, 1999, in Broward County. Florida law considers a driver under the influence with a level of 0.08. Wittenberns’ license was suspended for six months, according to state records.
McQuiggin’s license was suspended for six months for a June 14, 2003 incident inBroward County when officials said she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 or more, according to state records.
Also from the Sentinel, the pair are being represented by attorney Mitchel Beers, who said of the Delray Police Department’s statements:
“To comment on the releases by the Delray Beach police department at this point doesn’t serve anything. From all the protests that are going on right now, I think your readers understand that you cannot take everything the police release at face value.”
Which is a super shitty thing to say. It does sound like he’s making a reference to the recent protests and demonstrations related to racially-charged police shootings that have been going on in places like Charlotte, NC. He’s suggesting that those incidents somehow, magically, have anything at all to do with two millionaires killing an old guy as they raced their supercars on public streets.
Millionaire Lives Matter, people. I hope these two millionaire supercar drivers can somehow get a fair shake in our legal system.