The good Samaritan who followed and helped officers find the driver who struck and killed a man in Miami Beach said the woman appeared to be "really drunk," according to 911 calls released by police Tuesday.
"I'm actually just following a car that just hit a man on Collins Avenue. As far as I know, at this time, she must have killed him," the man told the 911 operator in the call.
Miami Beach Police say the man, who wasn't identified, helped them arrest 20-year-old Karlie Tomica, who faces a charge of leaving the scene of a crash involving death in the incident that happened around 6 a.m. Monday outside the Shelborne Hotel at 1801 Collins Avenue.
She was booked into jail and later released on $10,000 bond. It was unknown whether she has an attorney.
Tomica was behind the wheel of a 2007 Dodge 4-door that struck 49-year-old Stefano Riccioletti, knocking him into the hotel's driveway, according to an arrest affidavit.
"He's still laying down out there, he hit 'em and he kept going," a witness tells the operator in one of the 911 calls. "Oh my God, I gotta go check..."
But it was too late. Riccioletti, a chef at the nearby Shore Club, was killed at the scene, police said.
Rather than stay at the scene, Tomica drove to her apartment in the 5600 block of Collins Avenue, with the good Samaritan not far behind.
"I'm actually following her right now," the Samaritan tells the operator, before providing a description and license plate for the car. "I'm following that lady right now."
According to the affidavit, Tomica got out of her car, handed her keys to her valet and went to her apartment.
"The lady is really drunk, she just came out of the car," the Samaritan tells the operator. "She's outside the car, she's really drunk."
"I was in shock. I was really serious," said Jairo Fuentes. He said he was shaking, dialing 411 instead of police as he tried to tell them about the hit-and-run he had just witnessed.
Officers and witnesses said Tomica had slurred speech, an odor of alcohol on her breath and was unsteady on her feet, the affidavit said. She refused field sobriety tests but a blood sample was taken and the results are pending, the report said.
Tomica is under investigation of DUI, Miami Beach Police spokeswoman Det. Vivian Hernandez said.
Police said the good Samaritan was a big help in making the arrest.
"This witness helped us out tremendously," Miami Beach Police spokesman Bobby Hernandez said.
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