{"id":179478,"date":"2026-03-05T16:53:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T16:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/179478\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T16:53:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T16:53:20","slug":"back-to-back-florida-drivers-killed-in-deputy-chases-highlight-pursuit-safety-protocols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/179478\/","title":{"rendered":"Back-to-back Florida drivers killed in deputy chases highlight pursuit safety, protocols"},"content":{"rendered":"

BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 One woman is dead, and another is in custody following a multi-agency chase for a stolen vehicle on the Florida Turnpike on Thursday \u2014 the second fatal crash<\/a> linked to a law enforcement pursuit in just two weeks.<\/p>\n

The suspect, later identified as 52-year-old Anna Giza, led law enforcement on a chase that began in Deerfield Beach while she was driving a stolen truck that had a tracking device, per the Florida Highway Patrol.<\/p>\n

According to WSVN<\/a>, as Coconut Creek Police<\/a> attempted to pull over her truck, she slammed into their police cruiser and a Broward County Sheriff’s Office<\/a> cruiser, sparking the high-speed pursuit.<\/p>\n

According to the Broward Sheriff\u2019s Office, the chase ended after a PIT maneuver stopped the stolen truck near the Sunrise Boulevard exit, but not before it crashed into a black Altima, killing 70-year-old Bonnie Bouffard, who was behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

Friends and coworkers knew something was wrong when Bouffard, a breast cancer survivor and billing department employee, didn’t show up for her shift.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all left work together yesterday, just didn\u2019t even know last time I\u2019d see her. But she was great, a great lady, a great friend,\u201d Tara Lee, a friend of Bouffard, told WSVN. \u201cShe\u2019s very funny, always had something sarcastic or witty to say. Didn\u2019t deserve to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

See also: Lake Worth Beach protesters sound alarm over amendments that could bypass voters<\/a><\/p>\n

Giza was taken into custody and transported to a local hospital. She is facing multiple felony counts, including felony murder, grand theft auto, aggravated battery, and assault.<\/p>\n

Both the BSO deputy and the Coconut Creek officer, whose patrol cars were struck, were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.<\/p>\n

Bouffard is the second innocent driver killed in recent days in crashes linked to police pursuits. On February 16, 76-year-old Ronald Wilson<\/a> was killed after deputies pursued Sean Holder, accused of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, according to CBS12 partners at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

BSO\u2019s current policy allows deputies to initiate a chase when there is a reasonable belief that a forcible felony was committed or is being committed, which includes aggravated battery. Among the offenses deputies are prohibited from starting pursuits for is auto theft.<\/p>\n

The policy says pursuits will be terminated, in part, when \u201cthe risks of continuing the pursuit appear to outweigh the risks of the suspect\u2019s escape,\u201d per the Sun-Sentinel.<\/p>\n

BSO\u2019s Homicide and Violent Crimes units<\/a>, along with Internal Affairs, are investigating the incident. In line with department policy, the case will also be reviewed by BSO\u2019s Pursuit Review Board<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. (CBS12) \u2014 One woman is dead, and another is in custody following a multi-agency chase…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179479,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-179478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179478\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}