Boyfriend of Miami woman, 22, who was killed in a car crash demands driver is prosecuted after he ran a stop sign in his Tesla on autopilot and smashed into a truck that hit the couple
- Dillon Angulo, 27, and girlfriend Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, were standing outside their truck when it was hit by George McGee’s Tesla in April
- McGee blew through red light, and hit a stop sign before striking the couple’s vehicle which was parked 40 feet off Card Sound Road by County Road 905
- McGee told cops he was driving in ‘cruise’, he took his hand off the wheel to claim his dropped cell phone and hen hit the truck
- Tesla Traffic Aware Cruise Control claims to help drivers maintain safe distance from the car in front, automatically break and with lane control
- Cops asked how much he had drunk and he said nothing but didn’t test for DUI
- Monroe County State Attorney hasn’t filed any charges against McGee and Florida Highway Patrol won’t say why he wasn’t tested
- Angulo’s attorney called it ‘a slap in the face’ and the survivor asked: ‘How can somebody be free three months after they’ve killed somebody?’
A man who survived a Florida car crash that killed his girlfriend is demanding the driver of a Tesla Model S is prosecuted after he was allowed to go free from the horrific site, simply telling police he hadn’t been driving but had been driving his vehicle in cruise.
George McGee from Boca Raton is heard on bodycam from a law enforcement officer saying he was coming from his office when he blew through a stop sign, red light, and hit a stop sign before managing to hit the couple’s vehicle which was parked 40 feet off the road.
Dillon Angulo, 27, is seen being worked on by emergency responders in the video released by officials and they are heard communicating that Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, was thrown into the bushes due to the force of the Tesla that hit as they stood outside their truck where Card Sound Road intersects with County Road 905.
McGee is later heard telling cops he was driving in ‘cruise’, which Tesla calls their Traffic Aware Cruise Control.
Dillon Angulo, 27, and girlfriend Naibel Benavides Leon, 22, were standing outside their truck when it was hit by George McGee’s Tesla in April
McGee told cops he was driving in ‘cruise’, he took his hand off the wheel to claim his dropped cell phone and hen hit the truck. Cops asked how much he had drunk and he said nothing but didn’t test for DUI
Some of the autopilot features within that claim to help drivers maintain a safe distance from the car in front, automatically break and carry out lane control.
But McGee also tells officers he was retrieving a cell phone that fell just before the fatal accident.
He says on video that he took his hands off the wheel and that’s when things went awry.
McGee said: ‘I reached down, I didn’t see it and when I popped up, I saw a black truck just happened so fast.’
However police allowed McGee to leave the scene of the collision without testing him for driving under the influence of drugs of alcohol. They simply ask how much he had been drinking and McGee claims he wasn’t.
This despite the fact that authorities noted in the post-incident report that McGee was driving in a ‘reckless or aggressive manner.’
Tesla (pictured) Traffic Aware Cruise Control claims to help drivers maintain safe distance from the car in front, automatically break and with lane control
Leon was thrown into the bushes by the force of the Tesla and she later died in hospital
Angulo continued that he thought he was going to die at one point and added: ‘It has been rough’
Leon later died in hospital and her partner found out weeks after the crash when he had sufficiently recovered. But he still uses a wheelchair and suffered memory loss.
Monroe County State Attorney hasn’t filed any charges against McGee. They have discussed the incident with Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) as they investigate.
But as FHP refuses to say why McGee wasn’t tested at the crash scene, Angulo is fuming.
He recalled learning about what happened in April, called it ‘devastating’ and said he was ‘overwhelmed with sadness’.
‘How can somebody be free three months after they’ve killed somebody and have caused so much pain in other people’s lives,’ Angulo told NBC 6 on Saturday. ‘To me, that’s not right.’
Angulo continued that he thought he was going to die at one point and added: ‘It has been rough.’
The family of Leon has said ‘they remain resolute and determined in their efforts to ensure both criminal and civil justice are served’.
Meanwhile the dead woman’s boyfriend’s attorney called the whole thing ‘a slap in the face to these victims’.
‘Mr. McGee’s conduct that evening was not only remarkably selfish, irresponsible, reckless,’ Rob Pelier told NBC 6. ‘In my belief, it was criminal.’
Monroe County State Attorney hasn’t filed any charges against McGee and Florida Highway Patrol won’t say why he wasn’t tested. But incident report stated McGee blew through red light, and hit a stop sign before striking the couple’s vehicle which was parked 40 feet off Card Sound Road by County Road 905
Angulo’s attorney called it ‘a slap in the face’ and the survivor asked: ‘How can somebody be free three months after they’ve killed somebody?’