COCONUT GROVE, FLA. (WSVN) - The devastated family of an elderly man who died days after he was hit by a car in Coconut Grove is asking the driver responsible to surrender to authorities.
According to City of Miami Police, 85-year-old David Hertzig was riding his bicycle along Southwest 37th Avenue and Charles Terrace when he was struck by a driver who fled the scene, just before 7:30 a.m., Monday.
The victim’s family said he was on his way to work at the time of the crash.
“We’re hurting right now,” said Amie Hertzig, the victim’s daughter. We weren’t ready to lose him. He’s the captain of the ship.”
Hertzig was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition after suffering a broken shoulder, hip, ribs and pelvis, among other injuries.
He succumbed to his injuries Saturday morning.
“I just can’t believe he’s gone,” said Amie.
Hertzig’s loved ones are disturbed the driver would speed away after realizing what he had done.
“It makes it so much more hurtful that this person left the scene,” said Amie.
Hertzig’s family said he was no ordinary 85-year-old.
“My father, he is a very, very special person,” said Amie.
She told 7News the beloved father and grandfather was compassionate, caring and a consummate scholar, accomplishing everything life threw his way.
Amie said her father had a distinguished academic career with a lifetime of laurels.
“He went to Cornell [University] when he was 16, and he went to the Sorbonne,” she said. “My father was a very renowned mathematician, a Ph.D. He was the chairman of the math department at the University of Miami for many years, and he became an attorney. He also got his architecture degree, he got his film degree. He was a Renaissance man.”
Amie added that he was also Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s high school prom date.
His loved ones haven’t fully mourned Hertzig’s sudden loss. They said they can’t yet.
Right now, Amie said, her family is on a mission.
“I’m not going to stop until this person is found,” she said.
Amie has a message to the person behind the wheel of the car involved in the crash: It’s not too late to do the right thing.
“We really want to find [the driver]. We want closure,” she said. “We really want to find who did this. It’s very troubling for us.”
Police believe the motorist is a man in his 50s or 60s with white hair who may have been driving a blue, newer model Jaguar sedan.
If you have any information on this hit-and-run, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
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