By Chrystian Tejedor
The Sun-Sentinel

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — A driver going the wrong way on Interstate 95 triggered a series of three wrecks Sunday morning that left three dead, seven others injured — including a police officer — and closed the northbound lanes for nearly five hours.

Debris and mangled cars littered all five northbound lanes of the interstate while troopers examined the wrecks and crews towed the damaged vehicles away. The northbound lanes reopened shortly after 10 a.m.

Wrong-way wrecks are not very common, Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Tim Frith said Sunday while investigators worked to determine the cause.

"Due to [signage] and the safety barriers that are installed, we see less of that in urban areas," he said. "When it does happen, usually it's a driver with a medical condition or they're impaired. We have a suspicion that impairment will play a role in this crash."

Troopers said Boris Rapoport, 54, of Hampstead, Quebec, Canada; Renee Rapoport, 78, of Westmount, Quebec, Canada; and Robert Rutman, 83, of Boca Raton, died in the accident. Angelina Pagliucca, 58, of Hampstead, Quebec, was critically injured, Frith said in a release Sunday evening. The four were riding in a white Mercedes-Benz that collided head-on with a black Pontiac just north of Linton Boulevard about 5 a.m.

Because of conflicting witness statements, it was not immediately clear which of the two cars was headed in the wrong direction, Frith said.

Damage to the Mercedes was considerable.

The car stopped slightly askew and facing north in the center lane.

Its hood was twisted toward the sky and its windshield was shattered.

The front and engine compartment was shredded, with bits of metal sticking out in all directions.

The left rear passenger door lay on its side near the car after firefighters pulled it off to get to the passengers, Frith said.

Kenneth R. Jenkins, 25, of North Lauderdale, the driver of the Pontiac, also was taken to the hospital where he gave troopers a statement about the crash, Frith said.

"He is doing better than we first thought," Frith said. "It appears that he will survive."

The wreckage in the road caused the next crash, troopers said.

Lashawn Antoinette Brown, 35, tried to avoid the wreck but struck one of the vehicles involved in the head-on crash. Her blue Hyundai Elantra then hit a white Honda Accord before crashing into the median wall, Frith said.

Brown, of Lake Worth, suffered minor injuries and was treated and released at the scene, authorities said. The left rear side of her Hyundai was crumpled and streaked with white paint that came from either the Honda or the Mercedes. Edward and Christina Duggan, of Short Hills, N.J., were in the Accord. They were headed to Palm Beach International Airport for a flight home and suffered no injuries, Frith said.

The car had a few dents and scratches.

Delray Beach Police Sgt. Toby Rubin got onto I-95 at Atlantic Avenue in an attempt to warn other motorists about the wrong-way driver and to catch up with the person, Frith said.

His cruiser collided with a northbound vehicle near the median wall three-fourths of a mile away from the head-on crash, but investigators were not clear if that wreck happened before or after the Mercedes and the Pontiac crashed. Rubin suffered injuries that are not life-threatening, Frith said.

Four men riding in the vehicle that crashed into Rubin's squad car also were taken to Delray Medical Center.

The extent of their injuries was not immediately known.