Hit And Run Driver Taken Into Custody
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The driver who slammed into a teen and took off on Wednesday night has been taken into custody, according to authorities.
Alan George Alvarez has been placed under arrest by the Miami-Dade Police Department. Charges are pending.
Mario Contreras said he and three other teens, two on foot and two on bicycles, were heading west on a NW 103rd Street sidewalk around 8 p.m. when Alvarez, driving a blue Hyundai Santa Fe, hopped the curb.
"We were not looking for trouble. Simply going to the gas station to get something to drink, minding our own business, Contreras said.
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On the way back, that's when he said a vehicle came up from behind and struck his friend.
"We were on the way home on the sidewalk and all I see is a car come, hit someone, he flies off and the bike gets completely run over and just him on the floor," said Contreras. "Who would do that? Who would just keep going and not stop and check if the persons alright?"
The teen who was hit, 17-year old Juan Fernandez, was unconscious when paramedics arrived.
Family members took Fernandez off of life support on Thursday evening at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
"I just heard a big crash and saw the car scraping part of its bumper there on the sidewalk and it just picked up speed and went that way," said witness Emmanuel Polo. "And then one of the kids over there got in the middle of the street and started crying."
Fernandez's friends ran to help him, but said there was little they could do but call 911.
"We were trying to call his name, 'Juan, Juan.' He would not reply to us. He wouldn't answer to us, not at all," Contreras said.
Fernandez's sister is devastated about what happened to her 17-year-old brother.
"He's a nice guy. He's very obedient. He's always good at home. He don't get in trouble with nobody," said Johanna Fernandez. "We're going through a hard time right now."
Surveillance video obtained by CBS4 News appears to show Alvarez pulling up and parking his SUV beside a car dealership up the street from where Fernandez was hit.
One of the dealership owners says he turned the video over to police on Thursday afternoon.
"I showed them and apparently everything came out in the video, the suspect who supposedly ran over the kid," said Ivan Jorge. "I was surprised it showed up cuz it was a rotating camera. He pulled up and I guess he made a call and somebody came on a motorcycle and picked him up."
Alvarez has a pretty extensive criminal history including two previous DUI's, one in Dade in 2010 and one in Broward in 1996.
He has also been arrested in the past for cocaine possession, battery and resisting arrest with violence.
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