Taxi driver killed after crashing into home

Courtesy: (Ihosvani Rodriguez, Sun Sentinel / November 25, 2010)
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Posted: 11/28/2010

By: Wayne K. Roustan, Sun Sentinel

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. - A cab driver, who died after his car inexplicably slammed into a Hollywood home early Friday, has been identified by police.

Jean Elie Charles, 26, was behind the wheel of a Friendly Checker cab that crashed through a wooden fence and into the unoccupied bedroom of a home at the corner of Jefferson Street and 56th Avenue, at about 3 a.m. Friday, according to Hollywood Police Lt. Manny Marino.

Charles died after being taken to Memorial Regional Hospital in critical condition, police said.

"It looks like it might be natural causes," Marino said, adding that the official autopsy results are pending.

Homeowner Malcolm Smith said that a last-minute decision to stay overnight at a relative's home in Coral Springs following a Thanksgiving feast may have saved his 18-year-old son from getting hurt or killed.