Altamonte Springs, FL Tragedy

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ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) - A man drove his car into his
in-laws' house in a fiery Christmas Day crash, killing himself and
his two children minutes before he was supposed to turn them over
to his estranged wife, according to media reports.
Shahab Behzadpour, his 3-year-old son, Sammi, and 6-year-old
daughter, Nikki, died in the crash in Altamonte Springs, a northern
Orlando suburb.
Behzadpour and his wife, Hope Custodio, had shared custody of
the children and he was supposed to let them spend Christmas
afternoon with his wife, relatives and neighbors told WKMG-TV of
Orlando.
The car hit a pillar at the front of the house and caught fire.
Custodio's brother Alex Custodio told WFTV-TV of Orlando that he
believed his brother-in-law intentionally rammed the house, and
that Behzadpour had threatened to harm himself and the children in
the past.
Alex Custodio said the family did not immediately know who was
in the car when the crash occurred.
"The whole thing was in flames ..." he said. "It was burning
real fast and my wife said there was somebody inside there. She was
trying to get the fire extinguisher and it wouldn't work, then we
just got away because we thought it was going to explode and then
we found out it was my brother-in-law's car."
The Altamonte Springs police department and Orange County
Sheriff's Department did not immediately return phone messages and
pages Thursday night.

APTV 12-25-03 2209EST

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Police: fire kindled inside car before crash into home

(Altamonte Springs-AP) -- Investigators believe a man who drove
his car into an Altamonte Springs home on Christmas Day had
intentionally set the inside of the car on fire while distraught
over the breakup of his family.
Police are waiting on state testing to determine what was
contained in a gasoline can and in some two-liter bottles found
inside the car driven by Shahab "Mike" Behzadpour. He and his two
children, ages three and six, died in the crash.
Behzadpour crashed his large Ford into his in-laws home, where
his estranged wife lived. Investigators say he and his wife were in
the midst of a divorce, and she had obtained a court order to keep
him away.
The car exploded in flames. Authorities have NOT yet determined
if the fire killed the children.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)