Hit & Run Leads To Deadly Police Involved Shooting
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Miami-Dade Police are investigating an officer-involved shooting in Miami Springs that left a hit and run suspect dead Tuesday.
"There was a police chase and someone was killed. It's disturbing," said a neighbor Onix LeBron.
Police say the suspect was involved in a hit and run accident near US1 and Kendall Drive in Pinecrest just after 1:00 p.m. Authorities said his silver Kia hit a male pedestrian who was pinned between two vehicles and rushed to Kendall Regional Medical Center for emergency surgery.
"The impact was that he could have killed him and then he left him there to die," said Miami-Dade Police Detectives Roy Rutland.
According to police, the driver of the Kia took off and led them on a chase down the Palmetto Expressway where police say the suspect crashed into several cars, including an unmarked City of Miami police vehicle-- then just kept going.
The car was found abandoned near Oakwood Drive and DeLeon Drive in Miami Springs.
Police searched the area with K9's and found the suspect hiding a block away in an alley between two homes.
"I told them check the last house because there's a lot of stuff in the yard and that's the best place to hide," said neighbor Richard Puyans who heard the gunfire. "Eventually they found him there and four shots later, the suspect was dead."
"He attacked one of our officers. There was a struggle," said Detective Rutland. "The subject actually was fighting with the officer, trying to get his gun from him."
Police say a backup Miami-Dade officer fired his gun, fatally wounding the man.
According to witnesses, they heard between three and six shots.
The officer in the struggle was checked out and is doing okay, according to police.
The man who was injured in the initial hit and run suffered life threatening injuries but is now stable. He may lose a leg but will survive, according to officials.
Click here to watch Gaby Fleischman's report.
RELATED CONTENT:
