Man Accused In Hit & Run Of Skateboarder Released
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Miami man accused in a deadly hit and run of a skateboarder bonded out of jail Tuesday afternoon.
Meantime, family and friends of the teen who was struck and killed by the alleged driver on Monday are grieving.
Cash Pereira, 16, was skateboarding home from a friend's house in the area of NW 12th Avenue and NW 108 Street when he was struck by a Hyundai Sonata around 9 p.m. After striking the teen, the driver sped off.
That driver, identified as 28-year old Gabriel Fleuricourt, later turned himself in to Miami police. Fleuricourt told investigators where to find the car and confessed to the accident during questioning, according to the police.
The teen's dad said they had just moved back to the area to be closer to their store.
"We are broken. A piece of us is gone," said the teen's father, Cornelius Pereira."He took a break, said he was going to see a friend he never came back. We kept calling him and it was just ringing and ringing."
"He was just one of the best kids and he was only 16-years-old...only 16-years-old. I don't know what wrong he did to go away from this world and I don't know what enemies he had that he had to hit him and run away--that was the wrong thing the guy did," said Cornelius Pereira.
Family and friends have been stopping by where the teen was killed, creating a makeshift memorial for Cash Pereira.
"I live right there, I was the second person on the scene--it broke my heart," said Alan Garcia, the victim's friend.
Fleuricourt was visibly upset while talking to investigators about what happened.
According to his arrest report, he told police he attempted to overtake a slower moving vehicle by driving northbound in the southbound lane, hitting Pereira.
Fleuricourt was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with death, failure to have insurance and failure to have a valid tag/registration.
Friends say Fleuricourt was torn up, panicking after the accident. But the teen's father hopes Fleuricourt will be held accountable.
"That's what we gotta do now, and may his soul rest in peace. That's all we pray right now for him to have a good rest," said Cornelius Pereira.