MIAMI (WSVN) - Police have arrested a man accused of striking several City of Miami Police officers with his vehicle.
Miami Police and Fire Rescue units responded to the scene of the crash along the 1100 block of Northwest 11th Street, just before 11 p.m., Sunday.
We are currently on scene investigating a hit & run crash where 3 officers who were assisting someone were struck by a hit-&-run driver. Their conditions are stable at this time & the injuries DO NOT appear to be life threatening. NW 11 CT-NW 12 Ave on NW 12 St have been shutdown pic.twitter.com/N2fbXZLToB
— Miami PD (@MiamiPD) November 25, 2019
According to investigators, two of the officers were assisting someone outside of their squad cars when they were hit by a car. Shortly after, the driver took off.
“A vehicle comes eastbound on 11th Street, collides with one of our police vehicles, continues to roll and struck two of the officers that were outside their vehicle,” said Miami Police Commander Freddie Cruz.
Fortunately, the incident took place about a half-mile from JMH’s Ryder Trauma Center, so paramedics were able to transport the officers there quickly.
One officer suffered minor injuries and another suffered a broken ankle. The two officers have since been released.
A third officer was also wounded and remains hospitalized. The officer at the hospital is being treated for serious injuries including fractured ribs, a collapsed lung and liver lacerations.
“One is still in stable condition,” Cruz said. “However, he did sustain some very serious injuries, and he will be in the hospital for quite a few days.”
Police later arrested Hector Guzman, 54, who, they said, was behind the wheel of a green Kia Soul with a suspended license.
Officials say he has a lengthy criminal history with arrests that include robbery, drug possession, driving with a suspended license and grand theft. He is a habitual traffic offender.
According to the arrest report, police said Guzman “blacked out but knew he hit something. He stated he looked out of his vehicle and saw the police officers on the ground and knew his life was over.”
Guzman’s wife, 43-year-old Jacqueline Perez, was also arrested and is accused of letting Guzman drive her car knowing he is not allowed to drive.
“This individual just came at a high rate of speed, collided into a vehicle and caused a chain reaction,” Cruz said. “This could’ve easily turned very tragic for our officers, and this person is facing very serious charges.”
7News spoke with a good Samaritan who witnessed the crash.
“I felt very concerned for the police officers,” said Francisco Ramon. “They were thrown on the floor and they were injured. I was helping them, but they told me I had to wait for the ambulance. I cooperated with police with all of the incident and all of that stuff.”
Guzman now faces serious charges including driving with a suspended license and perjury.
Police said he initially told them he was sleeping in the passenger seat in the vehicle, but when they went to the vehicle, he was the only one inside.
Guzman later changed his story and said he was behind the wheel, according to police.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.