Boca Raton Man, 67, Killed in Lantana Traffic Accident

Police Lights (Photo: Jason Rojas/Flickr)

A 67-year-old Boca Raton man was killed Tuesday morning in a chain-reaction crash on Dixie Highway after his SUV was struck from behind by a Jeep Wrangler whose driver had fled the scene of an earlier collision, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.

Jose Bedoya died from injuries suffered when the 2023 Mazda CX-5 he was driving was hit shortly after 11 a.m. near Ocean Avenue in Lantana. Bedoya, of the 9600 block of Boca Gardens Circle North, was stopped in southbound traffic at a red light when the crash occurred, the sheriff’s traffic incident log said. The alleged at-fault driver, 34-year-old Charles Velbis of Lake Worth Beach, had struck a Chevrolet truck in a separate crash north of Lantana Avenue before fleeing southbound at high speed in his 2017 Jeep Wrangler. Velbis was said to have failed to stop for the line of vehicles waiting at the light and rear-ended Bedoya’s Mazda, which was third in line in the left lane.

Bedoya’s vehicle was knocked southeast, rotated nearly 180 degrees and struck another car before coming to rest, according to the accident report. The Jeep continued south, striking additional vehicles and setting off a chain reaction that ultimately involved eight vehicles. Debris also struck a ninth vehicle that was stopped in the right lane. Velbis suffered serious injuries in the crash.

Two other drivers sustained serious injuries and one had minor injuries. The remaining drivers involved were not hurt. Alcohol or drugs are suspected as having been a factor in the fatal collision, and the investigation is ongoing, the report said.

Anyone with information or video of the crash is asked to contact Investigator Schneider with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Division at 561-684-4030.