NORTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A man was spotted dashing away from the the scene of a deadly crash in Hialeah, and now the family of the victim is speaking out.
“Fermin Zurita? He passed away,” said Juan Zurita at a news conference Monday night.
Heartbroken, Zurita is mourning the loss of his brother, Fermin.
“We realized like he passed away, and that’s really, really bad, because he’s a really, really nice father and friend and family member, you know?” said Zurita.
Family members learned about his death in a head-on collision on Southeast Eighth Avenue, Saturday night. It’s where police found the 62-year-old Zurita’s body and the two vehicles involved.
The other driver was missing, and that’s because police said that driver did this:
“Bails out of his vehicle, and flees on foot,” said Hialeah Police Lt. Eddie Rodriguez.
Surveillance video obtained exclusively by 7News shows a man sprinting from Eighth Avenue and Fourth Street, the point of impact.
“So there’s CCTV that shows the defendant fleeing the accident without rendering aid to the victim,” said Judge Mindy S. Glazer.
That video first shows traffic on Eighth Avenue suddenly begin to back up in the seconds that followed the collision, then that man booking it down a side residential street.
“Mr. Hardy, you were arrested for leaving the scene of a crash causing a death and vehicular homicide,” said Glazer.
With the help of the video, Tashun Hardy was tracked down by Hialeah Police. He had been visiting from Chicago.
“He was down in South Florida at some sort of a party, so we were able to catch up to him at his hotel before he was able to leave South Florida,” said Rodriguez.
“He’s doing something illegal or I don’t know why, why he run away?” asked Zurita.
Questions and sadness remain for a grieving family.
His brother said Fermin is also survived by his three daughters in Cuba. His plan was to eventually get them to America. They were told of their father’s passing shortly after the crash.
Minutes before he died, he posted to Facebook writing, “God is in front of me all the time.”
“I’m going to be with God at some point, you know,” said Zurita after translating the Facebook post.
After being caught, Hardy was booked to the Miami-Dade County Jail.
Hardy was posted bond Monday night, and was released from jail on Tuesday. His charges are pending.
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