MIAMI GARDENS, FLA. (WSVN) - Rescue crews have airlifted an 11-year-old to the hospital after the young pedestrian was hit by a car in a Miami Gardens neighborhood, prompting officers to arrest the driver, police said.
Miami Gardens Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the scene of the wreck near the intersection of Northwest 188th Street and 12th Avenue, at around 8 a.m. on Tuesday.
Investigators said the driver of a black Ford Fusion was traveling southbound at a high rate of speed when they drove on the swale to avoid slow traffic.
Seconds later, police said, the driver struck a tree and then the victim, who was walking on the sidewalk.
A surveillance camera captured audio of the moment of impact.
The vehicle then crashed into a chain-link fence outside of Rose Emile’s home, located just south of a school zone.
“I was inside my house, I hear some noise. When I hear big noise like this, I say, ‘Whats going on?'” said Emile.
“I don’t know, like explosion, like a ‘boom,'” said witness Orlando Lawrence.
7 Drone Force hovered above the scene, as re Fushion was seen against the fence with its driver’s side air bag deployed.
Emile said the car came to rest in her front yard, adding she came outside and spoke with the driver.
“I said, ‘What’s going on?’ It’s just a man who was doing the accident. He said, ‘I’m the one who do this, do the accident,'” she said.
7News cameras captured the driver, who was in handcuffs, was wearing pajamas and looked to be in his 20s. He was placed in the back of a police car.
According to neighbors, the child who was hit is in elementary school.
“My daughter started getting emotional, can’t stop crying, stuff like that. She said she knows the kid,” said Lawrence.
Lawrence was one of those who called 911.
“At first he wasn’t responsive when I got out, just throwing water on his head and trying to, you know, big gash on his head,” he said.
A rescue helicopter landed near the campus of Miami Norland Senior High School and airlifted the young victim to Ryder Trauma Center, where they are being treated for a head injury.
7News cameras captured rescue crews and a woman who appears to be his mother shortly as the child was rushed into the hospital. The patient is listed in serious but stable condition.
Back at the scene, neighbors reacted to the crash. Speaking through a translator, area resident Pedro Ramirez said he has two children who are always outside playing, adding that there are many children in the neighborhood, and he worries about the speeding motorists.
Police said they took the driver of the Fusion into custody and transported him to jail for reckless driving.
Neighbors said they want to see more police monitoring the speeding, especially during school hours.
“Slow down, because kids, they are playing and, you know, sometimes, I’m gonna be walking across the street, you know, but it’s always speeding, you know,” said Lawrence.
The sedan has since been towed away from the scene.
Police have not identified the driver or provided further details about the victim, as they continue to investigate this crash.
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