Dad Mourns Daughter Killed in Fla. Police Car Crash

Dec. 04--POMPANO BEACH -- When Robin Smith last talked to his daughter Amanda, it was good news. She was working in a Boca Raton hotel and regularly attending drug therapy sessions.

"She said she was doing real well," said Smith, who lives in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

But in the next call Smith received from Florida, he learned his only child was killed Thursday when the Jeep in which she was a passenger collided with a Lighthouse Point police cruiser, authorities told him.

The Broward Sheriff's Office, which is investigating the crash, has not identified the victim of the crash. But an investigator at the Broward Medical Examiner's office on Sunday identified the victim as Amanda Smith.

Smith, 26, of Coconut Creek, was not wearing a seat belt, according to BSO. Thrown from the Jeep as it tipped over onto its side, Smith was partially pinned under the vehicle and died at the scene.

Gary Judd Costa, 43, of Boca Raton, was driving the Jeep and was charged with driving under the influence, failure to use due care and possession of a controlled substance, alprazolam, also known as Xanax.

Costa was being held without bond Sunday in the Broward Main Jail.

Costa and Lighthouse Point Police Officer Mark Riemer, whose patrol car was hit, were treated for minor injuries at North Broward Medical Center, BSO said.

The crash happened about 11:45 p.m. Thursday near the intersection of East Copans Road and North Federal Highway in Pompano Beach.

Costa was traveling north on Federal Highway when he apparently lost control of the Jeep, struck the concrete median and then hit the police car, BSO said.

Robin Smith, 53, said his daughter was "adamant" about wearing a seat belt.

"She used to remind me about it all the time," he said Sunday by telephone from Canada. "So the fact that she wasn't wearing it doesn't make sense."

Smith said his daughter became addicted to pain pills after after she was injured in a fall two years ago. "She was struggling," he said.

Smith said he does not know Costa.

Amanda Smith is also survived by two sons, ages 5 and six months, said her father. They are in the custody of their fathers, Smith said.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

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