At least 1 officer injured in altercation with driver in west Miami-Dade

Drive taken into custody after incident

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A crash Tuesday in west Miami-Dade County ended with a tough takedown after one of the crash victims got into an altercation with Miami-Dade firefighters.

The tussle in the street on Southwest Eighth Street and 127th Avenue that was captured on camera was a last-ditch effort by first responders to restrain the agitated driver, authorities said.

"I heard the impact and I saw a white work van and an AT&T utility truck," witness Jonathan De La Torre said. 

De La Torre snapped a photo of the van that he said the irate man first crawled out of.

He also recorded cellphone video Tuesday afternoon when things got out of hand.

"Once he got down on the ground and started talking to the police officer, you could actually hear him like trying to go to the guy, telling the other victim to kill him," De La Torre said. "It's kind of sad because you can tell the guy was mentally ill, but he was also very aggressive."

A Miami-Dade police officer witnessed the crash at the busy intersection, and a Miami-Dade Fire Rescue crew also happened to be driving by.

"At that point, fire rescue -- like four guys in the ambulance -- jumped on top of him to subdue him," De La Torre said. 

De La Torre said each used their might to subdue the man who was inches away from traffic and possibly harming himself.

"That's when he really got irate, and he basically started punching and kicking one of the firefighters," De La Torre said. 

At least one officer was injured in the takedown.

The subdued man, who could be heard grunting, also sustained injuries but from the crash.

De La Torre said the other driver, who was in a work truck of his own, appeared to be OK and could be seen on the video recording the wild scenario himself.

"It's unfortunate that you see first responders getting attacked by the victim of the accident," De La Torre said. "That's something you don't see every day."

The disgruntled driver was taken into custody, but it's unclear whether he will face charges. 

His identity has not been released. 


About the Author:

Terrell Forney joined Local 10 News in October 2005 as a general assignment reporter. He was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, but a desire to escape the harsh winters of the north brought him to South Florida.