A 75-year-old driver likely won’t face criminal charges after she crashed her Bentley into a busy Miami Beach sidewalk café, killing one man and injuring eight others, police said.
There were no signs that Regitze Tauber Gamble, of Pinecrest, was impaired on Thursday night as she tried to parallel park and ‘suddenly accelerated in reverse’, Miami Beach Police Department Spokesperson Ernesto Rodriguez told the Miami Herald.
But court records show she was previously cited in Broward County in 2015 for driving on the wrong side of a divided highway, paying a $165 fine after pleading guilty.
According to a traffic report, Gamble ran over a curb and hit a parked car before crashing into a table with five diners and hitting nearby pedestrians at around 6pm. The beige 1990 Bentley then trapped people underneath as it knocked over a traffic sign and hit a tree.
Dr. Gary Prince, 67, of Miami Beach died at a hospital shortly after the crash, police said. Two men, 78 and 61, were seriously injured, a child suffered minor injuries, and five others suffered less serious injuries, police said.
Regitze Tauber Gamble, of Pinecrest, crashed her Bentley into a busy Miami Beach sidewalk café on Thursday night but likely will not face charges. Employees are seen here trying to rescue some of the trapped patrons under the car
Gamble accidentally drove her old Bentley onto the sidewalk and into diner after she hit the gas instead of the brake while trying to parallel park
Gary Prince, 67, (pictured at an undated photo) was dining at the Miami Beach restaurant Call Me Gaby when he was killed in the crash
Photos and video from the scene showed workers and patrons from at the Call Me Gaby restaurant working to lift the car off of people.
Rodriguez said the investigation is continuing and Gamble could face traffic citations, with a police report saying she was operating the car in a ‘careless or negligent manner,’ the police report said.
Her house maid on Monday told Local 10 News Gamble is now ‘under a lot of stress’ as she deals with the aftermath of the fatal crash.
Call Me Gaby (pictured) has not reopened since Thursday’s crash
Thursday’s crash happened just after 6pm outside Italian restaurant, leaving tables overturned and napkins strewn about the sidewalk.
As Gamble was backing into a space, she sped up without warning and hit several tables, cops said.
Video shot by two 13-year-old twins Miles and Noah Britton, of Vermont, shows the moments just after the tragic crash.
An older Bentley can be seen splayed across the sidewalk on Washington Avenue in trendy South Beach, as customers and employees scramble to the back of the car where the child and middle-aged man were trapped under the heavy car.
‘A car just crashed right into here,’ one of the twins can be heard screaming in the video. ‘Give them some space, give them some space.’
A crowd of people attempt to lift the car off them and managed to do so, according to Miles, who spoke to WSVN.
‘Everyone is starting to move stuff out of the way and everything, and they pushed it enough so that the person had gotten out,’ Miles told WSVN. ‘I was very surprised to have it happened right in front of me.’
Another witness detailed the moment they pulled the small boy out from under the car. Robert Deburro told WPLG 10, ‘There was a small boy and a few people trapped under the vehicle. We grabbed the vehicle – a bunch of people grabbed the vehicle – and counted one, two, three, and lifted the vehicle up, and a waiter in there pulled a young boy out and within minutes – seconds really – the police were here and ambulances were here.’
Another witness Robert reported on social media that dozens of police and emergency vehicles arrived on the scene. An aerial video posted to Twitter also showed an entourage of flashing lights and emergency vehicles rushing to the scene.
Prince had worked a few New York Knicks and also coached a team called Franchise – formerly known as Gold’s Gym – in the Nike Pro City street basketball league in the city, where he lived before moving south
Prince owned Gold’s Gym (pictured in 2010) – now a Crunch Fitness – in Midtown, Manhattan while he lived in New York before moving to Florida
Prince, 67, a well-known New York City chiropractor died at a local hospital shortly after the crash.
Former head coach of the Manhattan College men’s team Barry ‘Slice’ Rohrssen (pictured) and his son were also injured at the restaurant
Friends of the doctor told WSVN that Prince had worked with a few New York Knicks players and the team even honored the season-pass ticketholder in 2019 during Fan Appreciation Night.
‘Gary had a fulfilling life, his love for basketball, mentoring inner-city kids while in New York. Part of his practice was dedicated to heal the injuries of basketball players for the New York Knicks.
‘Dr. Gary Prince was a superb person in terms of helping people around him,’ his friends Kirk Kesapyan and Massimo Quarra, who was were dining with the chiropractor on Thursday night, told WSVN.
Prince also coached a team called Franchise – formerly known as Gold’s Gym – in the Nike Pro City street basketball league in the city, where he lived before moving down the East Coast, and even owned a Times Square location of a Gold’s Gym.
Another NYC basketball staple was also seriously injured. Former head coach of the Manhattan College men’s team Barry ‘Slice’ Rohrssen, 61, reportedly underwent surgery on his leg after the crash and is said to be in good condition, sources told the New York Post.’
In total, the Miami Herald reports, Rohrssen and Samuel Stern, 78, were seriously injured; and Cara Meng, 18, Mirabai Giuffre, 17, Naaman Abdullah, 56, and Ariel Barreras Perez, 44, suffered less serious injuries.
Valentina Sapritsky, 71, was also possibly injured in the crash, and a minor whose name has not been released by police was also injured.
The restaurant’s owners said ‘their hearts’ were with the victims and their families
The ritzy Call Me Gaby restaurant has not reopened since the accident on Thursday night ‘out of respect for those involved.’
‘We are deeply saddened and devastated by last night’s tragic event,’ Call Me Gaby ownership said in a statement.
‘On behalf of everyone with the Call Me Gaby family, our thoughts and prayers go out to those injured and deceased in the accident and their loved ones. We hold all of those involved closed to our hearts.’
The restaurant also thanked its ’employees, patrons, and bystanders’ for working together to remove the two people – including the three-year-old boy and a man in his 50s – out from under the woman’s Bentley. They also thanked local authorities for their help assisting the scene.
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