MIAMI — A 23-year-old man, who turns 24 on Tuesday, faced charges for two crashes killing one person and injuring two others on Sept. 18 in Miami, records show.
Police officers reported Oscar Portillo -- who smelled like alcohol and had slurred speech -- crashed in Overtown and Allapattah while driving with a temporary driving permit that had expired on July 5, records show.
Witnesses said Portillo was speeding and “swerving from left to right” while driving a 2009 Honda Accord northbound on Northwest 12 Avenue, and he rear-ended a 2020 Chevrolet Colorado at a red light at Northwest 11 Street in Overtown, according to a police arrest report.
Portillo reversed, struck the Chevrolet Colorado for a second time, and looked over toward the victims and smiled “in a sarcastic manner” while driving away and crossing the intersection while the light was still red, according to the police report.
Portillo ran several lights before running the red light at Northwest 20 Street in Allapattah and crashing into a 2014 Jeep Compass that was traveling eastbound on 20 Street, according to the police report.
The impact of the crash caused the Jeep Compass to crash into a traffic pole and rotate clockwise before coming to a stop, and the Honda to crash into a traffic sign and a wall, according to the police report.
The passenger of the Chevrolet ran to help the driver of the Jeep, who was trapped inside, and saw Portillo getting out of the Honda and shouting in Spanish, “What’s the problem?” and laughing, according to the police arrest report.
Miami Fire Rescue personnel pronounced the driver of the Jeep dead at the intersection of Northwest 12 Avenue and 20 Street. Fire rescue personnel took Portillo to Jackson Memorial Hospital after he suffered a forearm and wrist fracture.
Cinthia Liliana Sierra Linares, who was born in Colombia and lived in Miami, was pronounced dead shortly after 11:10 p.m., on Sept. 18, at Northwest 12 Avenue and 20 Street, according to police and the medical examiner’s office. She was 35.
Portillo’s blood was drawn for a toxicology test, and police officers arrested him shortly before 6 p.m. on Sept. 19 at Jackson Memorial Hospital, records show.
Miami-Dade County inmate records show correctional deputies booked Portillo shortly before 4 p.m. on Sept. 20 at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Portillo, who was born in Honduras and had two local residential addresses in northwestern Miami-Dade, had a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hold and was unemployed, police and inmate records show.
Court records show prosecutors filed a case against Portillo, also known as Oscar Andres Portillo Lopez, on Sept. 21 for vehicular homicide in a reckless manner and two counts of leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury.
Portillo required a Spanish interpreter when he appeared in bond court on Sept. 21 before Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Orlando A. Prescott, who granted the prosecution’s request for pre-trial detention.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch was set to preside over the case.
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