Woman shot and killed by police while in a stolen car had been released from jail 10 days prior, records show
The Boca Raton woman shot dead by Coconut Creek police officers after she allegedly drove at them Monday night had been released from jail 10 days earlier, records show.
Brittni Muldrew, 36, was booked into the Palm Beach County Jail Aug. 17 on an unrelated petty theft charge, and got out Aug. 20.
She was shot and killed Monday, Aug. 30, when authorities say she drove a stolen Mercedes Benz toward three officers in the 4400 block of Hillsboro Boulevard, near Lyons Road, about 8:30 p.m. in Coconut Creek.
According to the Coconut Creek Police Department, it began when Muldrew was pulled over for speeding and the officer who made the traffic stop found out the Mercedes she was driving had been reported stolen earlier that day in Parkland. Two more officers showed up as backup.
It was then, police say, that Muldrew put the Mercedes in reverse, driving at the officers. Police have not disclosed how fast Muldrew might have been going at the time.
Two of the three officers fired at the car, and Muldrew was shot. She died despite officers’ attempts to revive her, police said.
Levon Lopez, 49, a who was in the passenger seat of the Mercedes, was unhurt.
Officials said he was involved in the alleged car theft and was charged with grand theft auto.
“There is video surveillance evidence from the gas station or convenience store where the car was stolen from where Mr. Lopez and the driver did both at the same time jump into the stolen vehicle while it was running and left the scene,” a lawyer told the judge at Lopez’s bond hearing Wednesday.
Lopez was also charged with one count of murder tied to Muldrew’s death. Under Florida law, because Lopez was involved in the car theft he’s eligible to be charged with any crime that happens afterward, a spokesperson for Coconut Creek police explained.
Lopez is being held in Broward County Main Jail without bond.
The three police officers were injured in Monday night’s events, the department said, but were released from a hospital Tuesday. The Coconut Creek Police Department has not commented on how they were injured.
An injured police K-9 was released from an animal hospital Wednesday and is recovering at home, the department said.
The two officers who fired their weapons have been put on administrative leave, per standard procedure, while the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney’s Office investigate the shooting, police said.
