One Man Dead, 2 Officers Injured In SW Dade Crash
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - One person is dead and two Miami-Dade officers were injured in a crash in remote southwest Miami-Dade.
Tuesday evening, Miami-Dade Police released the identity of the man killed - Emilio Jesus Vizcaino, 45, from Homestead.
The accident that ended his life happened just after 1:30 a.m. at the intersection of SW 147th Avenue and SW 260th Street.
Police confirm Vizcaino, who was driving a white Nissan at the time.
The two injured officers were airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
A spokesman for the Miami-Dade P.B.A. told cbs4's Peter D'Oench that he visited both officers early in the morning and said he was "thankful that they are going to be alright."
At the time of the crash, the officers were on a routine patrol and not responding to call, according to the police, so there were no flashing lights or siren. The officer at the wheel was a field training officer with six years of experience and the other officer was new to the force.
According to the police, the officers' cruiser was traveling westbound on SW 260th Street and they had a stop sign at the intersection. The Nissan was traveling south on SW 147th Avenue and did not have a stop sign.
An investigation is underway as to what led up to the crash and who was at fault.
"We don't know whether the officers are at fault or not but anytime you have a loss of life, that's the ultimate," said Detective Lee Cowart.
He said the officers were 32 and 24 years old.
As crash reconstruction investigators attempt to determine the speed of both cars, police warn that the area where the crash is a place where things can easily be missed.
"I can tell you being raised in South Dade myself it's very, very dark out here, you really can't see your hand in front of your face. I'm sure visibility had something to do with this accident," said Cowart.
Jose Diaz, the owner of JD Gardens, says the accident caused some damage to his nursery at the intersection where the accident happened.
"When we came here, it was all blocked up," he said. "I have seen 8 or 10 accidents here in the past 10 years. It is really dark at night. I think they need stop signs for traffic going East to West as well. Maybe we need a flashing light."
