SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A driver has died after, police said, he slammed into a Miami-Dade Police cruiser and an SUV while driving against traffic on State Road 874/Don Shula Expressway, sending the officer and two other people to the hospital and forcing the closure of all southbound lanes near Killian Drive for hours.
Authorities have reopened the highway, just before 9 p.m., Friday, nearly seven hours after police and fire rescue shut it down just before the Killian exit.
According to Florida Highway Patrol, they received a call just before 2:30 p.m. reporting a vehicle traveling northbound on the southbound lanes of State Road 874 near Killian Parkway.
A yellow tarp could be seen covering the side of a white Volkswagen sedan that rolled over on its driver’s side. A white SUV could be seen smashed into its undercarriage with debris scattered across the pavement feet away.
“The driver of the Volkswagen that was traveling northbound on the lanes is deceased on the scene,” Miami-Dade Police detective Argemis Colome said.
Off to the shoulder, a MDPD cruiser was seen with much of its front and passenger side crushed.
Aerial cameras captured the female police officer who was driving the cruiser hugging another officer next to her mangled vehicle before she was taken to the hospital.
Cellphone video submitted to 7News appears to show a man behind the wheel of the Volkswagen driving against traffic on the southbound lanes.
“The Volkswagen strikes the police car that was just traveling southbound on the outside lane and ricochets into the center lane, which is when it strikes the white Jeep,” Colome said. “The white Jeep had two occupants, a male and a female, both adults, were transported to Jackson South Hospital in stable condition. The female officer that was driving the police car was also transported to Jackson South in stable condition.”
The scene remained active, with the highway shut down southbound for hours. Police rerouted southbound traffic to exit at Kendall Drive, causing congestion extending all the way to the Palmetto Expressway.
Police have not released the names of the victims involved in the crash, but did confirm the deceased driver was a 69-year-old man, and the victims in the Jeep are a 50-year-old man and a 49-year-old woman.
Police continue their investigation into the night.
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