ROYAL PALM BEACH, Fla. — A man who died in a high-speed crash that occurred in a residential area of Royal Palm Beach on Monday was driving a stolen car, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
Rolando Rancano, 37, of LaBelle, Florida, was driving a 2019 Audi S5 when the car hit a 2018 Nissan Titan pickup truck hauling a trailer in the 200 block of Ponce De Leon St. at about 2:41 p.m.
A few minutes before the collision, deputies said the Audi was reported stolen from a Publix located at 11977 Southern Boulevard near Crestwood Boulevard in Royal Palm Beach.
Deputies said Rancano was driving south at a high rate of speed on Ponce De Leon Street, where the speed limit is 25 mph, near the intersection with Madrid Street.
The Nissan, driven by Juan Francisco Juan, 22, of Riviera Beach was heading north on Ponce De Leon Street.
The crash report said that as the Audi neared a sharp right-hand curve, it was traveling too fast to safely negotiate the curve.
As Rancano's stolen vehicle entered the curve, it crossed over a double yellow line and into the path of the Nissan, causing a head-on crash.
"I heard this loud sound and my husband ran out, and I ran out right after him after hearing the sound," Evelyn Jude, a resident of the La Mancha neighborhood who lives next door to where the crash happened, said.
Jude described the scene after the wreck.
"A white car was just totally destroyed, and there was a truck that was destroyed also," Jude said. "There was one man lying on the ground and there was another man inside the truck with a broken arm."
Rancano was pronounced dead at the scene by Palm Beach County Fire Rescue.
Juan and the two passengers in his truck all suffered serious injuries and were taken to St. Mary's Medical Center.
Neighbors who live near where the crash occurred said they noticed Rancano was wearing a hospital gown.
La Mancha residents said that given the time of day of the wreck, and the speeds involved, they are grateful no one else was injured.
"A lot of people walking their dogs and running, all types of people, and riding their bikes and stuff, there shouldn't be speeding at all," resident Ashlyn Nutter.
A day after the wreck, residents of the neighborhood were thinking about those grieving and recovering.
"When you speed and you cause accidents like that, everyone is affected," Jude said. "The family of the man who was killed, their family is affected, and you don't want to see people injured like that, so it's best you obey the law."
