Miami

Miami Police Arrest Driver Accused of Hitting, Killing Motorcyclist Then Fleeing Scene

Elton Suarezmesa, 46, was arrested Friday morning and charged with one count of vehicular homicide and one count of leaving the scene of a crash.

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Miami Police arrested the driver accused of crashing into a motorcyclist in Miami's Flagami neighborhood and then fleeing the scene.

Elton Suarezmesa, 46, was arrested Friday morning and charged with one count of vehicular homicide and one count of leaving the scene of a crash.

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Officers responded to the area of Flagler Street and Southwest 47th Avenue around 4:30 a.m. Thursday and pronounced the motorcyclist dead at the scene. He was later identified as 50-year-old Edgar Edmundo Sarduy Suarez. Family members said he was about to get married and had dreams of having a family and children.

Surveillance footage from a nearby business showed a red or maroon sedan making a turn onto Flagler Street and colliding with the motorcyclist.

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Police said Suarezmesa drove through flashing red lights and smashed into the motorcyclist, who had the right of way. The victim was left crushed between the building and a car.

Elton Suarezmesa (Miami-Dade Police Department)
Elton Suarezmesa (Miami-Dade Police Department)

The driver, who police say was Suarezmesa, got out and took a look at the motorcyclist, then grabbed something from the car and took off on foot, the video showed.

A city of Miami detective said in court Friday that Suarezmesa didn’t provide any aid and possibly ran away because he was undocumented.

"He did not give first aid to the victim. He ran off, I believe because he is not a U.S. citizen; he is a flight risk," the detective said. "We have information that he was going to be fleeing as of last night."

While the detective explained that to the judge, Suarezmesa was seen shaking his head.

The judge gave him a $100,000 bond. Suarezmesa has an immigration hold so he must stay in for three days to see if he will get deported. If not, he can be released under house arrest and a GPS monitor.

Gabriella Pierre, who owns a nearby nail salon, said serious crashes happen too often in the area.

"They’re always driving really fast through here so I mean when we see people speeding we try to see on this side. We have chairs back there but sometimes they don’t even respect the light," Pierre said.

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