DUI Hit-And-Run Kills Elderly Grandmother

Broward DUI Lawyer William Moore encourages all of his clients to obey the law, especially in cases where a person’s drivers license has been suspended. Lake Worth had at least two alcohol-related traffic deaths last weekend. Phyllis Henzel, who was 72, was killed outside her home on Saturday.

Her son Carl Henzel told Fort Lauderdale investigators that his mother had just left the house to play bingo with her friends. Carl heard a tremendous crash shortly after she walked out the door and, with difficulty, left the house in his wheelchair to investigate. Carl found his mother’s remains inside her smashed car. She had been sitting in the driver’s seat preparing to leave. “It was the most miserable thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Carl said. Broward DUI Lawyer William Moore extends his condolences to Carl and the rest of the Henzel family.

Lake Worth law enforcement authorities apprehended and arrest a suspect shortly after the collision. The suspect, 19-year-old Jose Arnoldo Benites, has been charged with DUI manslaughter in Broward County. He has also been charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing a death and felony driving without a license causing a death. At the time of this report, it was not known whether Arnoldo Benites is represented by a criminal defense lawyer.

Following the accident, Henzel’s family gathered at the scene in front of the home. They brought a priest to administer last rites to Phyllis after the hours of investigation came to an end. Five hours after the accident, the family and priest were allowed to pray over her body, which was covered with a blanket. Her son Carl told reporters that he had made a promise to his mother that she would receive her last rites.

The family of Phyllis Henzel described her as a kind woman, widowed and willing to take in people who had no where else to go. The Henzel family also recounted another hit-and-run tragedy they faced in 1976: Leif Henzel, another of Phyllis’s sons, was fatally wounded by a hit-and-run driver as a pedestrian in Lake Worth.

Henzel’s family said that this hit-and-run accident is the latest in a series on that street and the fifth involving Henzel’s car. Her car was unoccupied when hit on four other occasions; Lake Worth police located only one of those drivers. Additionally, a vehicle belonging to Henzel’s daughter was struck when parked on the street outside the house on another occasion.

Fort Lauderdale DUI attorney William Moore is passionate about Florida DUI defense. If you have been charged with DUI in south Florida, contact William Moore Criminal Defense, P.A., which has an experienced Fort Lauderdale DUI lawyer with offices in Fort Lauderdale-Dade, Broward, and Fort Lauderdale Counties.

This article should be used for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice nor as implied representation of any person.