Teens struck in Miami Beach hit-and-run crash plead with driver to come forward
MIAMI -- The victims of a late night hit-and-run crash on Monday spoke out about their ordeal and the ongoing search for the driver who struck them.
The last few days for Miliani Retamoza, 14, and her friends has been traumatizing.
"I started going hysterical," she said. "I just started like screaming and crying."
She and her friends were enjoying a youth night Friday in Miami Beach when they were crossing the intersection of Sheridan Avenue and Pine Tree Drive shortly before 9 p.m. when a car slammed into them.
"I flew onto the windshield and did a backflip or something," Miliani said. "And then went flying across the road."
Retamoza and her friend, Calvin Thomas, were struck as their friends witnessed the horror.
"I saw him, his entire left side of his face was drenched in blood," said Nicolette Kusich.
"I picked up my friend and I put him on the sidewalk," said Jose Sanches.
Retamoza said the driver got out of her car and yelled at the victims before she took off.
Both victims were rushed to the Ryder Trauma Center, where Miliani was treated for cuts and bruises all over her body. Calvin's injuries were even worse.
"I wake up in the hospital and realize that there's a hole in my face and a hole in my leg," he said. "I honestly thought I passed away at that moment. I thought I was dead."
The mothers of both victims are overwhelmed with emotion over what happened.
"No mother, no parent should ever experience this," said Sonia Thomas. "No one."
"These children they don't deserve to be treated like a piece of trash that you run over on the street and you don't care about," said Clarissa Retamoza.
Police say the suspect is a woman who was driving a newer model white Nissan Rogue that fled northbound on Sheridan Avenue after the incident.
Both Retamoza and Thomas are expected to be okay and they're grateful to be alive.
But Retamoza has this question for the woman who left her and her friend for dead.
"How did you feel about hitting two innocent children in front of a youth center and driving off?"
Anyone with information about the incident, was asked to call police at 911.