MIAMI -- A security guard was killed and his mother critically injured Sunday when a Miami-Dade police cruiser collided with their vehicle at an intersection.

Carlos Pascual, 42, was pronounced dead at the scene. His mother, Ana Suarez, was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she was treated for a fractured pelvis, head injuries and liver damage.

Police Officer William Rial also was injured in the crash. He was taken to Jackson and released later Sunday. Rial, a 25-year veteran of the force, was responding to a routine call after 7 a.m. when the accident occurred.

Pascual was returning home after his shift with his mother, 70, who had kept him company at work because it was New Year's Eve, his family said.

According to Pascual's family, who went to the scene, a witness said the officer ran a flashing red light and hit Pascual, who had a flashing yellow light.

Investigators were trying to determine whether a power outage that occurred between 7 and 8 a.m. may have tripped the traffic light.

Woman, 85, dies in house fire

BELLE GLADE -- An 85-year-old woman was killed in a fire started by a faulty electrical wire and spread by an overturned kerosene heater, police said.

Lucille Brown lived alone at her home and used space heaters on cold days, said her son Ernest Brown.

When an overheated lamp plug caught fire Saturday morning, she tried to put it out and called nearby relatives instead of the Fire Department to help her, according to police.

She knocked over the heater while trying to put out fire, which spread throughout the house.

Brown's cousin arrived at the home and called firefighters, but by the time they arrived, she was trapped in the house, Detective Greg Burrus said.

"They tried to get in, but it was impossible," Burrus said.

Brown died at the scene and the house was destroyed.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk