Crash Victim Wants To Know If Cops Were Chasing Car That Slammed Into Hers

WEST PERRINE (CBSMiami) - The woman who survived a deadly crash in West Perrine this week wants to know if police were chasing the car that slammed into hers.

In a exclusive interview with CBS 4 News, Eloise Lewis said she barely remembered the wreck that sent her to the hospital.

"I turned off 104th onto 176th street and that's it," Eloise Lewis told CBS 4's Lauren Pastrana. "I just remember waking up and Monica was next to me and I was trying to talk to her. But then they put the yellow thing over her."

Lewis was driving a red Ford Taurus Monday in West Perrine when an SUV crashed into the passenger side where her friend 55-year-old Monica Patterson was sitting.

Patterson did not survive.

"She was a nice person," Lewis said Friday, one day after learning her friend died.

Surveillance video captured near the crash site shows the moments leading up to the wreck.

A black SUV can be seen speeding down a residential street. The driver ignored the stop sign.

Seconds later, two vehicles followed.

Witnesses believe those were unmarked cars from Miami-Dade's Robbery Intervention Detail.

"I know I didn't hear any sirens. I didn't see any lights flashing," Lewis said. "If there was a police chase they need to do something about that."

But police aren't calling this a chase.

Instead, they said they "attempted to approach" a suspicious SUV but "lost sight" of it moments before a "loud crash, according to a press release.

On Friday night, Patterson's loved ones lit candles in her honor at the spot where she died.

"She was a good person," Malik Patterson said of his grandmother. "She always made sure we had fun."

"She was a very friendly person, outgoing. Everybody knew her by that," Patterson's mother, Mary Christine Ponder, said. "I want closure. I want the people that started the chase to be liable. I want justice."

Lewis wants the driver to turn himself in.

"I really want to know what happened. You know, because I know I'm not getting the whole story from police," she said. "I want everybody to just tell the truth."

Police said the man driving the SUV ran away.

They are still looking for him.

If you have any information, call Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).