Police ID Robbery Suspect Who Led Police On High Speed Chase Around Miami
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Police have identified the robbery suspect who led them on a high-speed chase through Miami on Saturday.
Police say they responded to a 911 call from a laundromat owner about a woman who was robbed inside his business. The owner told police he had heard yelling and when he went to investigate, he found a woman screaming as 31-year-old Yunier Lugo took off.
The owner went after Lugo, but the suspect jumped over a fence and he lost him, according to police.
While police continued investigating the incident, Lugo was spotted driving a minivan and officers began to pursue him.
Police said Lugo was travelling at high speeds and fled onto US-1 to SW 27th Ave, ending up in the Coconut Grove area.
The suspect then drove onto S. Bayshore Drive and into Brickell, but got back on US-1, officers said.
Cellphone video shot just after 7 p.m. shows police chasing the suspect.
The chase went from high speeds to a slow down when Lugo reached a traffic jam in Cocowalk.
"We saw this guy traveling at very slow speeds, under 20 miles per hour, about 17 to 20 cop cars following behind him," said witness Brian Cowan.
In the middle of the heavy traffic, Lugo backed up his car into an officer's vehicle while trying to continue his escape. He then smashed into another car as he drove over the curb and along a bicycle path parallel to US-1, police said.
Nikolas Snyder said he's lucky it wasn't his car.
"I realized that my car was actually parked here but it was parked inside and they made me check on my car [and] make sure it wasn't hit, but it seems like the guy in front of me got pretty banged up," said Snyder.
The chase continued back out of Coconut Grove and in the Coral Way area. Eventually, it was right back in Coconut Grove.
Lugo tried to avoid an officer by driving his vehicle on the sidewalk, where he crashed in between a tree and telephone pole in the 3300 block on Virginia Street.
Police said Lugo's car stopped working and he tried to flee on foot.
Officers caught up to Lugo and arrested him.
Lugo remains in police custody and faces several charges, including fleeing from police, aggravated assault and reckless driving.
