Man faces charges for DUI crash with 2 dead, 4 injured in Miami-Dade

MIAMI – William Rivera was driving a gray Acura MDX on Tuesday in Miami-Dade County when a police officer stopped him over a broken tag light, records show.

The officer found Rivera, 58, of the Bronx, New York, had nine active felony warrants and arrested him near the intersection of Southwest 182 Avenue and 136 Street, records show.

The arrest was northwest of where Florida Highway Patrol troopers reported Rivera was involved in a fatal DUI crash nearly three years ago on Krome Avenue, records show.

“Rivera is responsible for the deaths of the driver … and passenger,” FHP Cpl. Rudy Regis wrote in a statement, included in the arrest warrant that Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mavel Ruiz signed on Monday.

Rivera was driving a blue 2018 Dodge Challenger when he crashed into a 2018 Jeep Latitude on Sept. 19, 2020, according to Regis. The toxicology report later revealed Rivera’s alcohol readings were .161 and .162 — well over Florida’s legal alcohol limit of .08, according to the warrant.

Rivera and the driver of the Jeep were both traveling northbound on Krome Avenue when Rivera struck the back of the Jeep, which overturned near Southwest 214 Street. Digzan Gonzalez, the driver of the Jeep, and Mariselis Reyes, a passenger in the Jeep, both died after the crash.

The FHP reported there were four injured: The Jeep’s three other passengers — Eduardo Rivero, Rosa Herrera, and Lianys Micias — and a passenger in the Dodge, Mary May. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel took them to the Jackson South Medical Center.

Rivera was at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center held without bond at first. He was facing two counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of DUI manslaughter, four counts of DUI serious bodily injury, and four counts of reckless driving serious bodily injury.

Cour records show Rivera appeared at Miami-Dade County bond court on Wednesday and a circuit judge allowed a standard conditional pretrial release with a GPS monitor, ordered Rivera not to drive, and set his bond at $70,000.

Court records show Circuit Judge Cristina Miranda is presiding over the FHP case in Miami-Dade County. The Miami-Dade Police Department did not specify what the other eight arrest warrants cited in the arrest report were for.