Dashcam Video Captures Deadly Hit And Run
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HOLLYWOOD (CBSMiami) – The family of a Hollywood man killed by a hit and run driver while riding his scooter on the Palmetto Expressway on Saturday morning hopes new dashcam video of the crash will lead to the arrest of the driver.
The dashcam video onboard a truck recorded the crash.
The Florida Highway Patrol says a car driving east on the 826 near I-95 changed lanes in front of the truck and couldn't slow down to avoid slamming into the back of a scooter driven by German Martinez. FHP says the driver of the car sped away while Martinez lay dying. His family says he was taken off of life support on Tuesday.
"I want my brother to knock on the door and to see him again and I'm not going to see him again," said Patrizia Martinez. "I'm not going to see my brother again."
Patrizia Martinez and her mother, father and sister traveled from Venezuela to say their goodbyes to German and to grieve with his fiancé Maria Mella.
"Somebody took his life and he ruined my life and his family life, too," Mella said.
Mella says Martinez was on his way home Saturday morning from his job waiting tables on Miami Beach. She said Martinez was a mechanical engineer in Venezuela and that the couple recently moved to the United States. She said he was saving money to continue his education in South Florida.
"It's very painful," Mella said. "We've lost a family. A young man, full of dreams."
FHP hopes someone out there knows who was driving the 1999 or 2000 green Mazda Protege that hit Martinez and fled the scene without so much as lifting a finger to help the man. His family says it's unfair that Martinez is gone and the person responsible is able to go on living.
"He's out there eating and with his family if he has a family, but we're not," said Patrizia Martinez. "My brother is not here."
FHP says the Mazda Protege will likely have damage to its' front right side. If you have any information contact FHP or Crimestoppers at 305 471 TIPS.