Fatal crash in West Broward marks second BSO pursuit death in less than 2 weeks
.jpg "A driver is dead following a Feb. 26 Broward Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol rush hour-chase on Florida’s Turnpike in West Broward, according to local authorities.")
A driver is dead following a rush-hour chase involving the Broward Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol on Florida’s Turnpike in West Broward, according to authorities.
The Thursday, Feb. 26, pursuit, which culminated near Sunrise Boulevard, marked the second death in 10 days involving a BSO chase.
Broward deputies and the Coconut Creek Police Department were assisting the Fort Lauderdale Police Department with locating a stolen Ford pickup truck around 4 p.m., according to an arrest report for Anna Giza, the driver of the truck.
Nearly 30 minutes later, Coconut Creek police tracked down the truck and conducted a felony stop near Sample Road and the Florida’s Turnpike South entrance, with deputies writing they joined soon after.
Giza, 52, was surrounded by Coconut Creek and BSO patrol units and refused to exit the Ford, deputies said, instead backing into the front bumper of an occupied deputy’s car and ramming forward into an occupied Coconut Creek vehicle before fleeing.
“As the driver of the stolen vehicle intentionally struck two police vehicles and accelerated towards uniformed officers on foot that were in the path of travel, the driver committed multiple forcible felonies, BSO deputies initiated a vehicle pursuit,” the report says.
Troopers joined BSO’s highway pursuit near mile marker 58 — the Sunrise Boulevard exit — when the fatal crash that involved the Ford pickup truck, an FHP marked charger and a Nissan sedan happened, according to a Feb. 26 FHP statement.
As the Ford was being chased down, a Broward deputy attempted a PIT manuever to immobilize the truck, but backed out of the move “due to oncoming traffic safety concerns,” according to Giza’s arrest report.
An FHP trooper followed through on a second PIT maneuver approximately 30 seconds later, BSO noted, causing the Ford truck to crash into a shoulder wall before colliding with a Nissan sedan that had pulled onto the shoulder.
Giza was arrested by police three minutes after the crash. The Nissan’s driver, identified as 74-year-old Bonnie Bouffard by loved ones on social media, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The BSO deputy and Coconut Creek officer whose vehicles were struck sustained non-life threatening injuries and were rushed to hospitals for treatment.
Giza faces a slew of charges, including murder by another while engaged in a specific felony, aggravated battery and assault on an officer, aggravated fleeing with serious injury or death, grand theft auto and resisting an officer without violence.
She’s being held at the North Broward Bureau detention facility on a $3,010,500 bond as of March 2, jail records show.
Tamarac BSO chase kills civilian
On Monday, Feb. 16, Broward deputies were involved in a vehicle chase in northwest Broward that led to the death of a civilian driver, according to BSO.
While chasing down a stolen Jeep driven by 30-year-old Sean Paul Holder, a BSO patrol unit struck the Toyota pickup truck of Ronald Wilson, 74, at a Tamarac intersection, the Coral Springs News reported on Feb. 20.
Wilson was rushed to a hospital for treatment, and he was later pronounced dead, BSO said.
Holder had just crashed through the gate of a Flanigan’s Seafood Bar & Grill and still had pieces of the fence lodged into the car when deputies began the pursuit, his arrest report says.
Dozens of BSO deputies responded, with the chase culminating with a BSO patrol unit forcing the Jeep off the road and Holder’s arrest shortly after.
He was being held at Broward Main Jail with no bond and faces several charges, including murder by another while engaged in a specified felony, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, grand theft auto and driving with a suspended license.
What does BSO policy say?
Like most agencies, Broward deputies can only launch vehicle pursuits within authorized circumstances, such as when a suspect has committed a “forcible felony,” according to Broward Sheriff’s Office policy.
That’s defined as “a person using or threatening physical violence against someone else, for example, murder, carjacking, aggravated assault and battery.”
“Vehicle pursuits require greater degrees of caution, skill, common sense, and sound judgment for emergency operations,” the agency’s handbook says.
Deputies can also initiate a car chase if there’s a “physical breach of a security checkpoint, fence, or barrier at Port Everglades or Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport,” or when a deputy has “reasonable belief” that pursuing a fleeing vehicle is needed to prevent death or serious bodily injury.
This story was originally published February 27, 2026 at 4:41 PM.
