MIAMI – A 29-year-old man accused of driving under the influence and fleeing after striking a woman has been arrested, Miami police said.
The crash happened at 5:19 a.m. Saturday at Northwest Fifth Avenue and Northwest 54th Street.
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Police said Gustavo Sanchez was driving a white 1987 Oldsmobile east on Northwest 54th Street from Northwest Sixth Avenue at a high rate of speed.
A woman was attempting to walk across Northwest 54th Street when Sanchez's vehicle struck her in the eastbound lanes. Police said he continued to travel east and did not stop. He was last seen heading east.
According to the arrest report, the woman was dragged by the vehicle for 85 feet before she came to a final rest. Police said the impact was so severe that the woman was severed in half from the midsection. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
An officer noticed a Oldsmobile that was zig-zagging between the traffic lanes and that the vehicle's front windshield was smashed, police said.
The officer conducted a traffic stop at 15th Avenue and Northeast 163rd Street at 5:43 a.m. and observed fresh damage and blood on the vehicle.
Sanchez was asked if he had hit anything or hurt anyone. He told police he was just on his way home, according to the report.
The officer had confirmed with a dispatcher that Miami police were searching for an Oldsmobile that matched the description of the vehicle sought in the hit-and-run.
Sanchez was observed to have bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and had an alcohol beverage on his breath, the report said. Inside of Sanchez's car were two beer cans.
Sanchez made several spontaneous statements to an officer that he had been drinking prior to the crash, police said.
Sanchez was arrested on charges of DUI manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crash causing death.
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Jan. 21: Walter Reyes was killed and Henry Hernandez was injured in a hit-and-run crash while they were riding their bicycles on the Rickenbacker Causeway.