1 killed, 2 injured after pickup with suspected thieves crashed into van: Miami-Dade PD

A person driving a pickup truck who was speeding away from an officer checking out a theft at a nearby convenience store slammed into a work van Friday morning in a Southwest Miami-Dade neighborhood, killing one person and critically injuring the van’s driver and passenger, police said. A person in the pickup truck died, Miami-Dade police said, and two others got out of the truck and ran away. Officers were looking for them as of late Friday morning.

Police didn’t say whether the person killed was driving the truck. The crash happened around 8 a.m. at the corner of Southwest 97th Avenue and 21st Street, Detective Andre Martin, a police spokesman, told reporters near the crash site. Police say it all started when a Miami-Dade County Schools police officer responded to reports of people stealing from a convenience store somewhere on Southwest 87th Avenue.

When the three people suspected of stealing noticed the officer at the store, they got into the pickup truck and sped off, Martin said. There is no indication that the officer pursued the vehicle, but he canvassed the area and came upon the crash, Martin added.

Miami-Dade police block access to Southwest 92nd Avenue at Southwest 21st Street on Friday, Dec./pp8, 2023.

Miami-Dade police block access to Southwest 92nd Avenue at Southwest 21st Street on Friday, Dec./pp8, 2023. Miami-Dade police block access to Southwest 92nd Avenue at Southwest 21st Street on Friday, Dec.

8, 2023. “The crash was pretty horrific, so there’s a good chance the two individuals who fled are injured,” Martin said. CBS News Miami footage showed a mangled silver pickup truck flipped on its side[1] on the driveway of a house and a white van with front-end damage on the sidewalk.

A woman who said she is the mother-in-law of the van driver told the Herald that his condition is improving. She did not want to be named. Another woman, Elizabeth Cepero, said she lives two blocks from where the crash occurred.

She said the neighborhood is quiet, but that Southwest 92nd Avenue is a dangerous road. “There have been several bad accidents here,” Cepero said. “They go so fast, they lose control.” This embedded content is not available in your region.

This bulletin will be updated once more information becomes available.

References

  1. ^ a mangled silver pickup truck flipped on its side (www.cbsnews.com)