A man died after he crashed a car with four propane tanks inside into his former girlfriend’s Florida apartment, police say.
A spokesman for the Fort Pierce Police Department told WPTV that Carl Philbert, 31, reportedly drove the car into his ex-girlfriend’s apartment because he was “upset” after he got into an argument with her Tuesday morning over an item in her apartment that he did not like.
Philbert drove his white four-door sedan into her apartment in Fort Pierce several hours after the argument took place. The sedan caught fire, exploded, and shattered the front windows of the apartment.
The St. Lucie County Fire District sent rescuers to respond to the incident at 12:48 p.m. Tuesday.
The Daily Mail reports that Philbert died at the crash site, but nobody else suffered injuries.
Five adults and one toddler who were in the complex at the time escaped through the back door.
Eileen Cuevas, 26, told TC Palm that her mother, who was Philbert’s ex-girlfriend, spotted him from the front room driving in the direction of their apartment.
Cuevas said she rushed her grandmother, mother, and three-year-old son to the back door after the car smashed through their living room.
The building and the car burst into flames after they left.
“I just wanted people to help him because I saw his body burning,” Cuevas said.
She added that she has no idea why he did this.
“It’s very personal. It’s still weird talking about it. He was trying to get to my mom. It was meant for everybody that was in the house,” Cuevas said.
Police say that Philbert had a history of domestic disputes with his ex-girlfriend.
The fire damaged all eight apartments in the complex, causing the 13 adults and five children who lived there to be displaced from their homes.
The Fire District said the American Red Cross had been notified to help those displaced by the fire.
Fire officials and police are investigating.
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