Miami-Dade

MIAMI

Father, son killed when speeding car hits their vehicle in Miami

 

A car racing on Flagler Street collides with an SUV carrying a family. The father and son died; the mother and younger son are fighting for their lives.

acave@MiamiHerald.com

Jose Serrano lived for his family: 15-year-old German, 12-year-old Gabriel, and his wife Carmen Orta.

But the Serrano family was torn apart in the early morning hours Saturday, when a car drag racing west on Flagler Street plowed into Serrano’s SUV, according to Miami police.

German, who was riding in the passenger seat behind his father, died at the scene. Jose Serrano, 43, succumbed to his injuries shortly later.

Orta, 42, and Gabriel are still fighting for their lives at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.

According to Miami police, a Toyota Scion was racing with two other cars down Flagler about 2 a.m. Saturday when it collided head-on with the Serrano vehicle at 59th Avenue.

The Scion’s driver, identified as 19-year-old Alejandro Hernandez of Miami, was thrown from the car. He is in critical condition at Ryder. His passenger, Ivan Rodriguez Jr., 20, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The impact was so severe; it caused the engine block of the Scion to be torn off its compartment, and that of the Expedition to be pushed into its own passenger compartment, police said.

A search of Miami-Dade and Broward traffic infractions showed Hernandez has a clean record.

Investigators are searching for two other cars involved in the race.

Anyone with information is asked to call Miami Police at 305-603-6350, or Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477.

On Saturday, the front porch light at the Serrano residence along Northwest 47th Avenue remained lit, with no one home. The outside was decorated with Halloween gizmos: cobwebs, pumpkins and skeletons.

Jose Serrano was a family man and a handyman, who serviced products in Hialeah Gardens, according to neighbor Ivan Izquierdo.

Izquierdo and Serrano’s parents grew up near each other in Havana. When he heard the news, he called the family in Cuba.

“[My] parents know them from back in the day,” he said.

Carmen is a housewife who kept close ties on her children. German was soft-spoken, but loved model cars. Izquierdo saw him painting one on Friday.

“It’s sad,” Izquierdo said.

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