By Sharon Aron Baron
A Tamarac man is dead and several others were hospitalized after a multi-vehicle crash on Tuesday night.
Shortly after 9 p.m., Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a crash involving three vehicles at the 2700 block of West Commercial Boulevard in Tamarac.
According to traffic homicide detectives, physical evidence revealed that Nicholas Maxwell Atkinson, 22, of Tamarac, was traveling in a white 2009 Ford Crown Victoria westbound in the center-thru lane on West Commercial Boulevard at a high rate of speed.
At some point, Atkinson lost control of the Ford, which rotated and crossed over the inside lane and onto a raised center median where it struck a tree.
The impact of the crash caused the Ford to split in two.
The rear half of the vehicle wrapped around the tree and came to a final rest, while the front half, with Atkinson, still entrapped, continued across the median on its roof and into the eastbound lanes of West Commercial Boulevard.
At the same time, Kevin Obando, 27, of Plantation, driving a black 2007 Chevrolet Suburban, and Calvin Leon Bentley, 23, of Fort Lauderdale, in a silver 2002 Buick, was traveling eastbound on West Commercial Boulevard.
As parts of the vehicle slid, a piece of debris from the Ford struck the driver-side window of Obando’s Chevy and shattered the glass.
The front half of the Ford continued to slide across the roadway and crashed into the front of Bentley’s Buick. The collision redirected the Ford’s split portion in a southwesterly direction, where it came to a final stop.
Tamarac Fire Rescue responded, and Atkinson was pronounced deceased on the scene. Bentley and four other passengers were transported by paramedics to Holy Cross Hospital to be treated for minor injuries. They were all later released.
Traffic homicide detectives say speed is considered a contributing factor in this crash.
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