WEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A high-speed police chase came to a crashing end, Sunday morning, when an officer pursuing a suspect collided with two vehicles at a Northwest Miami-Dade intersection, causing the cruiser and an SUV to burst into flames.
Police arrested one man in connection with the incident.
According to Miami-Dade Police, the female law enforcer inside the cruiser, a three-year veteran with the department, had been chasing 38-year-old Bradys Balcinde along Northwest Seventh Avenue after a violent incident near Northwest 119th Avenue. From jail, Balcinde refused to stand before a judge in bond court Monday, and remains in jail.
He was charged with running from police and assaulting a police officer by trying to ram a police car with his Nissan.
“It was an assault on a police officer, which is what initiated the whole scene,” said Miami-Dade Police Detective Argemis Colome.
Police said the ensuing chase ended with the fiery wreck near Northwest 172nd Street and Seventh Avenue. Investigators said the cruiser collided with a black Infiniti, then struck a black Cadillac Escalade at the intersection head on.
“The police unit and the other vehicle collided. It redirected the police unit onto the vehicle that was stationary at the light,” said Colome.
Both the cruiser and the Escalade caught fire. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded and put out the flames.
Detectives could not say whether the officer’s lights and sirens were activated during the chase that sent her and the driver of the Infiniti to area hospitals. They are both expected to be OK.
Police arrested Balcinde at the GFive nightclub, located a few blocks from the crash scene.
Sunday’s crash comes one day after, police said, a man was killed when his car collided with a Miami Police cruiser at the intersection of Southwest 12th Avenue and Seventh Street in Little Havana.
“We know that the officer was responding to a priority call in emergency mode, meaning lights and sirens, when he came into the intersection,” said Miami Police Officer Kenia Fallat. “Now, as to what the contributing factor to the crash is, it’s something that we still don’t know. It’s way too early to tell who was at fault and what the contributing factor to this crash was.”
Surveillance video from a nearby business shows the moments after the cruiser and the victim’s car crashed. The collision was so violent that the squad car plowed into a black Audi stopped at the traffic light on the other side of the intersection.
The driver of the Audi was treated at the scene for an arm laceration. The Miami Police officer involved in that crash was taken to Mercy Hospital, where he was treated and released.
The family of the deceased victim, identified as 71-year-old Ramon Bueno, said they are devastated. “He was everything, everything to me and my family and my mom,” said his daughter, Daimy Bueno. “I don’t know what I’m even going to do with my mom.”
Balcinde, a Miami Springs resident, has an extensive rap sheet. He remains behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
During Balcinde’s bond court hearing, a judge found probable cause for his charges, and he has been scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
Both crashes remain under investigation.
The Miami Fraternal Order of Police donated $1,000 to Bueno’s funeral expenses. Bueno’s daughter has also set up a GoFundMe page to help cover funeral expenses. If you would like to make a donation, click here.
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