Wife of Delray Beach Uber driver killed in crash with Lamborghini files lawsuit

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — The wife of an 82-year-old Delray Beach Uber driver killed in a crash with a bright yellow Lamborghini has filed a wrongful death suit against the other driver.

J. Gerald Smith was on his way home for dinner on Sept. 21 when he was hit by the Lamborghini, driven by Roger Wittenberns, 60, police said.

Witnesses told investigators that the Lamborghini was speeding through downtown Delray Beach at the time of the crash, the Delray Police Department said.

Wittenberns had spent the afternoon with his girlfriend, Patty Ann McQuiggin, 61, eating and drinking downtown, police said.

The pair left in separate vehicles – Wittenberns in the Lamborghini and McQuiggin in a yellow Porsche, investigators said.

“Witnesses said both vehicles were speeding north on N.E. 6th Avenue just before the 4:36 p.m. crash,” the department said on its Facebook page.

Smith was crossing N.E. 6th Avenue at N.E. 1st Street when he was hit, police said.

“The Porsche driver (McQuiggin) immediately left the scene, parking the car in the parking lot of a restaurant just feet away from the crash site before leaving,” the department said.

McQuiggin refused to give investigators a statement in connection with the crash and spoke to police only briefly when they went to her Vista Del Mar home the day of the crash, the department said.

A Delray Beach police officer responded to the scene and administered CPR to Smith until paramedics arrived.

Wittenberns and Smith were both taken to Delray Medical Center where Smith was pronounced dead, police said.

The suit, recently filed by Eloisa Smith, accused Wittenberns of “operating his motor vehicle in excess of the posted speed limit and while under the influence of alcohol.”

The victim’s wife is seeking payment for medical and funeral expenses, and damages for mental pain and anguish, and loss of love and affection.

Cox Media Group