Hollywood man faces 22 charges after Dania Beach crash kills two

A Hollywood man faces 22 charges after a July 4 crash in Dania Beach killed two passengers in his car and injured five people in another vehicle. Vladimir Mushenko, 38, was arrested Sunday after Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies said the white BMW convertible he was driving east on East Dania Beach Boulevard lost control near Southeast Second Avenue, crossed the median and hit a westbound Mercedes-Benz head-on.

One passenger in Mushenko’s car died at the scene, and another later died at Broward Health Medical Center, raising the death toll to two. Five people in the Mercedes were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities have not publicly identified the victims.

The charge list matters because it reaches beyond one count of drunk driving. Under Florida law, DUI is proved either by impairment of normal faculties or by a blood or breath alcohol level of .08 or higher, and DUI manslaughter carries a mandatory minimum of four years in prison. Vehicular homicide is a separate felony that requires proof that a driver operated a vehicle in a reckless manner likely to cause death or great bodily harm. In a Broward DUI-homicide case, prosecutors must tie impairment and reckless driving to the deaths, not just show alcohol in the blood.

NBC 6 reported that hospital blood testing showed Mushenko’s blood-alcohol level was .197, more than twice Florida’s legal limit. Local 10 said a deputy smelled alcohol on his breath, saw glassy eyes and noted that he appeared disoriented, while WSVN reported that Mushenko remains in custody on an immigration hold.

The case also lands in a county that keeps using checkpoints and holiday patrols as a deterrent. The Broward Sheriff’s Office said its DUI Task Force and district personnel planned a sobriety checkpoint in unincorporated Central Broward from 10 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, to 3 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, and later scheduled countywide DUI enforcement patrols over Memorial Day weekend in 2025. Those operations were meant to apprehend impaired drivers and promote traffic safety, a sign that Broward already has the tools, even as another crash on East Dania Beach Boulevard left two people dead and five injured.