NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - One teenager is dead and two others were injured during an overnight, single-car crash in Northwest Miami-Dade.
Police received a 911 call at around 3 a.m., Wednesday, of a fatal crash along the eastbound lanes of State Road 112.
According to officials, speed was a factor. However, they do not know what caused the driver to lose control and crash into the guardrail.
“This accident, based on primary investigation from out THI investigators was caused by drivers who were driving at a high rate of speed and possibly recklessly,” said Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson Joe Sanchez.
The driver of the vehicle was later identified as 14-year-old Jerome Gardner. Gardner was pronounced dead at the scene.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue had to call a field surgeon to the scene to amputate the front seat passenger’s left arm. The boy, later identified by family as 14-year-old Clifton Patterson Jr., was then rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital in unknown condition.
Family members and loved ones could be seen outside the hospital waiting for an update on Patterson’s condition.
A third 16-year-old passenger who was sitting in the back seat escaped with minor injuries and has since returned home.
According to Patterson’s father, Gardner fell asleep at the wheel. He also said the group of teens was somehow able to rent and pick up the car and that they were set to have the car until Sunday.
However, investigators said, the car was not rented and was registered to a Hialeah address.
According to FHP, Thanksgiving is the most dangerous holiday in the country for drivers. “The day before Thanksgiving, fatal accidents have increased by 15 percent,” said Sanchez. “That’s why the Florida Highway Patrol is out here, committed to having a high presence and make sure that motorists that are driving to visit their families, get there safe.”
As a result of the crash, the eastbound lanes of State Road 112 were shutdown just west of 27th Avenue but have since reopened.
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