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Name Not Disclosed

Age :

Gender : Male

Race : Unknown

Date : 08/31/2023

Location : Northwest 58th Street and Northwest 15th Avenue

City : Miami

County : Miami-Dade

State : Florida

Agency : Miami Dade Police Department

Officer(s) :Not disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Killed by police chase crash, possible mistaken identity

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/31/2023, at approximately 6:15 p.m., Miami-Dade Police Department officers responded to a Chevron gas station near Northwest 30th Avenue and Northwest 58th Street after a reported theft involving a woman. Police spokesperson Detective Angel Rodriguez said a man allegedly attempted to take the woman's purse or another item from her vehicle. Local 10 reported that police alleged a struggle occurred between the woman and the man.
The man left the gas station in a car. A witness flagged down arriving Miami-Dade officers and pointed out the vehicle and the direction it had traveled. Officers located the car and attempted a traffic stop specifically because police believed its driver was the person involved in the reported gas-station theft. When the driver continued driving, Miami-Dade officers pursued.
Miami-Dade police subsequently said officers terminated the pursuit because of safety concerns. Police alleged that after officers discontinued the chase, the driver continued at speed and struck two other vehicles before crashing into a tree near Northwest 58th Street and Northwest 15th Avenue.
The impact severely damaged the car. Miami firefighters had to cut away the vehicle's roof to extricate the driver. Paramedics transported him to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, where he died from his injuries.
The deceased man's family publicly challenged the police account. Relatives told Local 10 that they believed officers had pursued the wrong person and disputed allegations that he had committed the theft. A relative who went to the crash scene said the family found the man's wallet lying there. She questioned the official assertion that police had discontinued the pursuit and specifically asked why the rear of his vehicle was damaged if officers had stopped chasing him.
Local 10 followed the case again on 09/03/2023 after speaking with the man's family. The family continued to deny the police allegations and sought answers about the circumstances of the pursuit and fatal crash. Police had still not publicly identified the deceased driver at that time.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2023/09/01/suspect-dies-in-fatal-crash-following-gas-station-robbery-and-police-chase/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD5NUk5_IxA
https://www.local10.com/news/local/2023/09/03/family-of-man-killed-in-fatal-crash-after-police-chase-disputing-what-officer-say-happened/
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/police-man-dies-in-crash-after-attempted-robbery-in-nw-miami-dade/
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/crime/article278859159.html