Scooter Rider Struck By Car, Unable To Move Neck
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A scooter rider was hospitalized after a hit and run crash on the MacArthur Causeway early Saturday morning, police said.
The Florida Highway Patrol is investigating the accident.
Jean Colas is in a hospital bed, unable to move his neck after being thrown from his scooter on his way home from work, his daughter said.
"They told me your father was in accident," Gaelle Colas said about the call she received Saturday. "It was terrible for me because I love him."
Gaelle Colas said she rushed to be by her father's side at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
She said he was moaning in pain and had cuts on his arms.
Gaelle Colas said her father was returning from his job as a security guard when he was hit.
"He's only one to take care of us and I didn't know what can I do," Gaelle Colas explained.
Investigators said Colas' bright yellow scooter was dragged for blocks. They said they found it in Downtown Miami.
It did not take police long to catch up with the driver they say crashed into Colas.
The Florida Highway Patrol said Christopher Prestol is under arrest.
He was taken in to custody along U.S. 1 in Coral Gables after cops spotted a car with a shattered windshield and damage to the fender.
Prestol is facing charges of leaving the scene of a crash with injuries and driving under the influence.
He was booked in to the Miami-Dade County Jail Saturday.
The victim's daughter said God kept her father alive.
"I know he loves me so much because he gives me my father back," Gaelle Colas said.
Last week, another hit and run driver collided with a scooter at the intersection of NW 22 Avenue and 16th Street in Miami.
The victim, Luis Cruz, was on his way home from work at the time. Instead, he too ended up at JMH.
"The person who hit him basically left him for dead on the street," Cruz's wife, Gema Acosta, said.
The father of two has a shattered knee cap and a broken arm along with several cuts and bruises.
Cruz said he's glad justice may be served for this latest victim.
"That person needs to pay for what they did," Cruz said. "So should any other person that leaves the scene of a crime. Leaving somebody there in pain."
"Please if you have any information contact the Miami-Dade Police Department so we can find out who did this to us," Acosta begged through tears on January 19.
The family has set up an account with Wells Fargo under the name Luis Cruz for donations to help cover his growing medical bills.
As the Cruz family hopes for justice, Colas' daughter is glad an arrest has been made in her father's case.
She is not sure when her father will be allowed to go home.
