John Serino, of Parkland.
By Kevin Deutsch
A Parkland resident was arrested on multiple charges Thursday, including DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide stemming from an intoxicated driving crash that killed his passenger, arrest records show.
According to Broward Sheriff’s Office records, John Serino, 57, was being held without bond Thursday night in the Broward Main Jail.
Last month, Parkland Talk exclusively reported that Serino — CEO of The Original Frameless Shower Doors company — was “under the influence,” driving an estimated 100 miles per hour on West Sunrise Boulevard when he crashed his Ferrari in a rollover accident killing a 54-year-old father of four, according to police records.
Serino was driving his gray 2019 812 Superfast Ferrari “in a careless or negligent manner” and “too fast for conditions” while “under the influence of medications/drugs/alcohol” the morning of April 24, following an outing with passenger Victor Battaglia to a Broward strip club, according to a traffic crash report filed by the Sunrise Police Department.
Battaglia, a contractor and real estate manager from Red Bank, New Jersey, was killed in the crash, police said.
Serino was doing an estimated 100 miles per hour in a 45 mile per hour zone when he crashed through a fence at West Sunrise Boulevard and the Sawgrass Expressway’s southbound ramp between 5:07 and 5:10 a.m., the crash report states.
Police said his sports car traveled over a berm and went airborne before hitting a tree as it descended, winding up on its roof.
Around 9:40 a.m., roughly four-and-a-half hours after the crash, Sunrise Police and Florida Highway Patrol received several calls “of a white male stumbling from the wooded area,” later identified by police as Serino, just west of the crash site, the report states.
“The calls received by this agency indicated that the subject appeared disoriented and was not wearing any pants,” police said in the report.
A Sunrise Police officer arrived and saw Serino “laying on the side of the roadway in a fetal position,” the report states.
As Sunrise Fire Rescue personnel treated Serino, the officer spotted fresh tire marks and followed them to the crash scene, a wooded area just west of the expressway. There, police found the Ferrari upside-down with lights flashing and Battaglia dead in the front passenger seat, still wearing his seat belt, records show.
Paramedics took Serino to Broward Health Medical Center for injuries suffered in the crash, police said. At the hospital, he told Sunrise Police Traffic Officer Kasey Webber he and Battaglia had gone to a strip club before the crash, records show.
“The last thing he remembered was the clock inside the Ferrari showing the time was around 12 a.m. as he was driving,” police wrote. “Serino stated that he does not recall what happened, only that he awoke inside the Ferrari and that it had been in an accident. Serino advised he was able to free himself and exit the vehicle.”
Serino told police he stumbled out of the car and made his way toward the roadway, where he was later found by police and paramedics.
“John Serino advised that Battaglia was with him inside the vehicle while they were driving,” the report states. “However, he was unable to determine where Battaglia was at this time.”
Police determined Serino had driven his Ferrari in a “careless or negligent manner” as well as in an “erratic, reckless or aggressive manner” and suspected he had used alcohol, according to the report.
A police officer at the hospital “overheard when John Serino informed trauma nurse (Katelyn Duckworth) at Broward Health Medical Center that he had been consuming alcoholic beverages throughout the course of the evening during her line of questioning,” police wrote.
Another police officer “indicated that she observed John Serino have bloodshot watery-eyes and several scratches on his body.” Serino told the officer, “he would be willing to give a consensual blood draw and urine sample to determine his level of alcohol,” police wrote.
Serino also signed a consent form agreeing to provide the samples, police said.
According to the report, police collected Serino’s blood samples and urine, packaged them, and submitted them to the Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office for testing.
The crash caused an estimated $300,000 in damage to Serino’s Ferrari, police said.
Police had the car towed from the scene to the police department, where it was “placed in a secure area pending further analysis.”
Serino also faces charges of DUI with property damage and reckless driving with property damage, records show.
On June 25, a wrongful death lawsuit was filed in Broward Circuit Court on behalf of Battaglia’s estate, alleging negligence by Serino, records show.
The estate’s representative, Anthony Crupi, is seeking damages in excess of $100,000 on behalf of Battaglia’s two daughters and two sons.
On September 9, Serino filed court papers in Broward County alleging he was served “chemically altered” or “drugged” drinks in the $800-per person VIP section of Scarlett’s Cabaret, a strip club in Hallandale Beach, before the crash.
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Author Profile
- Kevin Deutsch is an award-winning crime journalist and author. A graduate of Florida International University, Kevin has worked on staff at The Miami Herald, New York Daily News, and The Palm Beach Post.
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