Source: Miami Herald
An intoxicated man who was driving his car the wrong way on I-95 and knocked another car off the Golden Glades flyover pleaded guilty Wednesday to DUI manslaughter and related charges. The crash killed one man and severely injured another. Irwin Rockwell, 38, of Ochopee in Collier County, reached a plea deal with Miami-Dade prosecutors that will send him to state prison for 17 years followed by 10 years of probation. Before dawn on Aug. 24, 2021, Rockwell was driving a silver Chevrolet Equinox SUV headed south in the northbound I-95 express lanes near the Golden Glades interchange. His car struck a Subaru with two Miami-Dade County men inside. The Subaru plummeted off the flyover, a fall of about 85 feet, landed on its roof and burst into flames.
Rockwell had been convicted of three prior DUI offenses and was driving with a revoked driver’s license at the time of last year’s crash, Adams said. He was treated at a local hospital and later arrested, she said. His blood alcohol level was 0.12, which was taken a few hours after the accident, she said. The legal limit is 0.08 in Florida.
