NBC 6– A driver who struck and killed a pedestrian then fled the scene near downtown Miami has been arrested, police said.
Brandon Campos, 19, was arrested Friday on a charge of leaving the scene of a crash involving death, an arrest report said.
According to the report, Campos was driving a grey Ford Mustang in area of Southwest 2nd Avenue and Southwest 2nd Street around 6:30 a.m. on March 25 when for an unknown reason he lost control and struck the victim on the sidewalk.
The crash left the victim pinned between the Mustang and a concrete post, the report said.
A witness who heard the crash and ran to assist said Campos got out of the Mustang and asked the witness to help him push his car that was stuck on the curb, the report said.
The witness then realized the victim was wedged between the car and the post, the report said.
Around the same time, a white Dodge Charger arrived at the scene and the people inside who appeared to be friends with Campos helped Campos push his vehicle off the victim, the report said.
Campos then fled the scene in the Mustang, and the Charger also fled, the report said.
Another witness ran over to the scene but “quickly realized something criminal was happening when she observed the occupants in the white Charger,” the report said.
That witness took a photo of the Charger’s license plate, the report said.
An officer arrived and found the pedestrian dead at the corner of the intersection. The victim’s identity hasn’t been released.
The report said a call for service had been received from a SOS crash system stating a collision had happened at the intersection involving a vehicle owned by Campos, the report said.
A third witness, a freelance journalist, saw tire marks and scrapes on the road and followed them to a nearby parking garage, where he found the Mustang covered with a white sheet, the report said.
The Mustang had a damaged front end and red stains on it that appeared to be blood, the report said.
“The vehicle had damage consistent with the crash and blood splattered throughout the outside of the vehicle,” the report said. “Wiping marks were present all over the front end, and windshield of the vehicle, as if an attempt was made to wipe off the evidence.”
The first two witnesses later identified Campos as the driver during photo lineups, the report said.
Campos was arrested and booked into jail, where he was being held on a $25,000 bond, records showed. Attorney information wasn’t available.
