Truck Crashes After Striking Pedestrians at Florida Pride Parade

Surveillance footage from June 19 shows the moment a truck crashed into a garden center after striking two pedestrians who were participating in the Wilton Manors Stonewall Pride Parade in south Florida.

Daniel Squillace owns the Fort Lauderdale Garden Center, where this CCTV footage was captured. The footage shows a 2011 white Dodge Ram crashing into the garden center and coming to a stop. The footage then shows first responders rushing to the vehicle, and taking the driver away.

According to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department press release, the driver was a 77-year-old male who was participating in the parade. The driver had “ailments preventing him from walking the duration of the parade,” so he was selected to drive as the lead vehicle, reports said.

The FLPD press release explained that the vehicle began to move forward in anticipation of the start of the parade, but accelerated unexpectedly, striking the two pedestrians. The driver continued across all lanes of traffic and crashed into the Fort Lauderdale Garden Center.

According to the police statement, the driver and the two pedestrians were all members of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus. Both pedestrians were taken to Broward Health Medical Center with “serious injuries,” where one of the pedestrians was pronounced deceased. The other pedestrian remains at the hospital and is expected to survive.

Wilton Manors police chief Gary Blocker released a statement on June 20 stating, in part, “As always, our Island City Community will come together to support each other during this time of somberness, and time of challenge, and together we will get through this …. Today we know yesterday’s incident was a tragic accident, and not a criminal act directed at anyone, or any group of individuals.”

The driver has been cooperative and showed no signs of impairment following a DUI investigation, according to the FLPD. The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made. Credit: Daniel Squillace/Fort Lauderdale Garden Center via Storyful