Newly obtained video sheds light on what happened on New Year's Eve in 2024, when a woman drove into a lake near an apartment complex in Hialeah Gardens.

Julia Vega was charged with DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide for causing the crash that killed her best friend and passenger, 69-year-old Elsa Pintor.

The incident occurred around 11 p.m. on Dec. 31 in the parking lot of an apartment complex in the 9900 block of W. Okeechobee Road.

Surveillance footage shows Vega’s car slowly approaching a metal fence before suddenly accelerating, striking a yellow retainer pole and chain-link fence, and plunging into the lake.

Vega managed to escape through the driver’s side window, and an officer who arrived on the scene used a rope to pull her to safety, according to records.

Pintor, who wa

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