Pedestrian Killed In Hallandale Beach Crash
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - One man is dead and another one is in the hospital after a crash in Hallandale Beach.
Police say the driver of a van, which appears to belong to an air conditioning company, crashed into a Toyota Corolla on Sunday around 5:45 p.m. near US 1 and Atlantic Shores Boulevard.
People in this Hallandale Beach neighborhood describe the moment a deadly crash took the life of a man standing at an intersection. "There was a series of booms," explains neighbor Oleysa Malakhova.
The whole ordeal began a few blocks away with a man who was driving an air-conditioning company van with a woman behind the wheel of a black SUV. "It began, stem from a domestic dispute between the two," said Hallandale Beach Police Sgt. Pedro Abut.
Investigators say the two are boyfriend and girlfriend that they argued and one chased the other through the streets of Hallandale Beach.
When the van got to the intersection of Northeast 12th Ave and Atlantic Shores that's where it turned deadly.
"(He) ran the stop sign, it's a Toyota Corolla right in the middle of the intersection. Came toward us, jumped the curb, hit a pedestrian and ended up hitting the backflow water pipe of the building," explained Mike Ilieseu.
Quickly neighbor neighbors raced to help the man who was hit.
"There was many people at the scene, just citizens who are trying to help the pedestrian but he was in very critical condition, said Malakhova. "They didn't touch him much but they were just surrounding him, very worried."
Police have identified the victim as 24-year-old Iulian Rosanovachi.
He died at the hospital.
Meanwhile, the van driver identified by police is 34-year-old Matthew Ellison, took off running. Neighbors went after him. "He was running in a north direction," Malakhova explained, "he ran behind the building. A lot of people were chasing him, so I believe he was probably very scared because they were going like 'go get him, go get him. He's running, he's on foot!'"
Witnesses tell us Ellison ran behind a building just feet away from the crash.
That's when everyone heard a single gunshot.
"There's a gunshot heard," Sgt. Abut said. "Soon after police arrive. They discover the driver of the white van, sadly, with what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound."
Ellison is listed in critical condition at Memorial Regional Medical Center.
Carlos Oquendo, who lives near the scene, says he was outside when the white van struck a white Toyota Corolla.
"The van struck the white car, kept going, hit a palm tree and then struck a pedestrian," said Oquendo. "The driver took off, walking up the street and down the street."
Investigators tell CBS4 the man who was driving a white van was trying to get away from the woman after the dispute, both were in their vehicles heading north on 12th Ave.
Witnesses told police the van ran the stop sign, hitting a car.
A GoFundMe page was started for Rosanovachi's to help with funeral expenses, which can be found by clicking here.