A suburban Boca Raton woman was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison for vehicular homicide in the deaths of an elderly neighbor and his daughter, authorities said.

A jury convicted Angela Stracar, 26, in December for the fatal crash that killed Odette Kane, 51, and Robert Kane, 79, the Palm Beach County State Attorney’s Office said.

The crash happened in May 2010 at the entrance to the Boca Isles South development at Cain Boulevard and Point Royal Drive, west of Boca Raton.

The Kane’s were returning home from picking up takeout for dinner when Stracar’s SUV smashed into their Cadillac. The Kanes and Stracar lived on the same street in the development.

Stracar lost control of her GMC SUV while traveling north on Cain Boulevard. She veered left onto the west shoulder of the road, crashed through the “Boca Isles South” sign, and the SUV went airborne.

Investigators later found painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs, alcohol and THC in Stracar’s blood-test results, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office arrest report.

The Kanes were pulling into the development when the SUV landed on their Cadillac, tearing off the roof, investigators said. Stracar was not seriously injured in the crash, officials said. The Kanes died at the scene.

By Alexia Campbell, Sun Sentinel

If you have been hurt in a car accident, do not accept any settlement that is offered by an insurance company without first reviewing it with a skilled and experienced attorney who can advise you more thoroughly about your legal rights and options. Contact the Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers of Salpeter Gitkin, LLP today at 954-467-8622 for more information.

Former Miami police officer and union president Vernell Reynolds has been indicted on charges she embezzled about $200,000 from the Miami Community Police Benevolent Association, federal prosecutors said Friday.

Reynolds, 46, of Hollywood, was charged with 16 counts of wire fraud. If convicted, she faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison for each charge, and could be forced to repay the $200,000 that investigators say she stole.

Reynolds, who became president of the union in 2005, stole money from two credit union accounts where members’ monthly union dues were deposited for safekeeping, according to the indictment.

The embezzlement scheme began as early as September 2008 and went on until June 2010, prosecutors said.

Reynolds is accused of making unauthorized withdrawals from the accounts to make personal purchases. Some of the withdrawals were made at casinos in South Florida and in California, and she also transferred union money into her personal accounts, prosecutors said.

By Paula McMahon, Sun Sentinel

Salpeter-Gitkin has strong relationships with several very large firms throughout the country who rely upon us to be their local counsel on various class actions in the state of Florida. These include consumer class actions and securities-based class actions. We also investigate and work on other types of consumer-based class actions as lead or co-counsel.

Contact us today to inquire about Class Action cases.

A judge on Thursday ordered a 65-year-old Palm Beach woman, accused of critically injuring a bike rider on Wednesday, to be held in lieu of $100,000 bond and to surrender her passport.

Ikuyo Ohigashi appeared in front of Circuit Court Judge Ted Booras after she was arrested on Wednesday on charges of DUI property damage and DUI serious bodily injury to another.

Assistant State Attorney Laura Laurie told Booras that Ohigashi is a flight risk after she stated she was planning on traveling to Japan in the near future for a vacation. Laurie also said that Ohigashi was involved in three crashes, and therefore is “a danger to the community, by all means.”

Ohigashi’s attorney, Nellie King, argued that the vacation was planned in November and was not in response to any criminal action.

Booras also ordered that if Ohigashi posts bond, that she be released on supervision with random drug testing, as she admitted at the scene of the accident in suburban Lake Worth that she took narcotics earlier in the day.

Ohigashi, was traveling west on Lake Worth Road, around 12:18 p.m. on Wednesday, when she struck Pertti Viljo Savela, 65, who was riding his bicycle in the bicycle lane near Corrigan Court, a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office probable cause affidavit says.

Savela, a Finnish national with a suburban Lake Worth address, was thrown from his bike and hit his head on Ohigashi’s windshield, shattering the glass. He suffered a brain injury, multiple rib fractures, a bruised lung, and a large laceration on his head. He was flown by Trauma Hawk to Delray Medical Center.

At the scene of the wreck, Sheriff’s Office deputies said Ohigashi appeared sluggish and forgetful, the affidavit says.

Ohigashi told deputies she saw Savela in the bicycle lane and thought he “wobbled over” into her vehicle lane. She told another deputy that she took a 750 mg Vicodin pill hours before.

By Alexandra Seltzer, The Palm Beach Post

If you have been hurt in a car accident, do not accept any settlement that is offered by an insurance company without first reviewing it with a skilled and experienced attorney who can advise you more thoroughly about your legal rights and options. Contact the Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers of Salpeter Gitkin, LLP today at 954-467-8622 for more information.

Police arrested a West Palm Beach woman on Monday after she not only drove into another car, but kept driving drunk, they said.

Sandra Hayes, 41, is facing DUI charges, as well as refusing to submit to a DUI test and leaving the scene of a crash involving damage to property.

Hayes was arrested after a woman called police at 10:14 p.m. on Monday to report that her car had been hit by a driver near the 700 block of 42nd Street, according to the West Palm Beach Police probable cause affidavit.

The woman, identified as Kathie Williams, told dispatchers at the time that she was in pursuit of the car that crashed into hers.

Despite catching up with Hayes with emergency lights and siren, a police officer noted in the affidavit that she did not pull over until reaching a parking spot in the 5000 block of Caribbean Boulevard. The officer also noted that when Hayes stepped out of her car, she stumbled and was caught by another officer who sat her back in her car “for her safety.”

When asked how much she had to drink, Hayes said that she pleaded “the Fifth,” the affidavit stated. She also said, “I refuse the right” to undergo a field sobriety test.

Both officers noted in the affidavit that they could smell the “strong and distinct odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage emitting from her breath.”

By Cynthia Roldan, The Palm Beach Post

If you have been hurt in a car accident, do not accept any settlement that is offered by an insurance company without first reviewing it with a skilled and experienced attorney who can advise you more thoroughly about your legal rights and options. Contact the Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers of Salpeter Gitkin, LLP today at 954-467-8622 for more information.

Five people were taken to a hospital on Wednesday morning after a two-vehicle collision on University Drive in Tamarac, a city official said.

The patients’ injuries were considered non-life-threatening, according to city spokesman Chad Quinn. They were taken to University Hospital and Medical Center, a few feet away from the crash site.

The crash was reported before 9 a.m. in the 7400 block of North University Drive, near West McNab Road.

By Juan Ortega, Sun Sentinel

If you have been hurt in a car accident, do not accept any settlement that is offered by an insurance company without first reviewing it with a skilled and experienced attorney who can advise you more thoroughly about your legal rights and options. Contact the Fort Lauderdale car accident lawyers of Salpeter Gitkin, LLP today at 954-467-8622 for more information.