A witness to the Oct. 10 accidents, Janet Nuñez, describes Eismann’s driving this way:

“He [ran] the red light at Flagler going really fast, like 70 or 80 miles per hour. He cut me off and slammed into the guy in front of me.”

After Eismann hit the first car, Nuñez told The Herald, she watched him take off.

“Then he started to lose control,” she said.

“He swerved from the left lane to the middle lane, back to the left lane and then all the way back to the right lane, where he hit the pedestrian. I watched the entire thing happen right in front of me.”

Frustrated widow

The details of the accident have Nuñez, the victim’s widow, and others questioning why Eismann has not been arrested or even ticketed.

Miami-Dade police traffic homicide detective George Wilhelm wrote in an e-mail that no blood or urine was taken from Eismann by police because “there was no probable cause to believe that the driver was under the influence at the time of the crash.”

Ed Griffith, spokesman for the Miami-Dade State Attorney, said last week that prosecutors were waiting to receive all of the evidence from police before deciding whether to file charges against Eismann.

“If there was probable cause to believe a crime was committed, the police could make an arrest,” Griffith said. “If they didn’t feel that they had probable cause, then they turn it over to us.”

Criminal defense attorneys not involved in the case say the lack of charges nearly two weeks after the accident is not unusual.

“This is under no circumstances unreasonable,” said Adam Swickle, a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney. “Given the severity and complexity of what we’re talking about, the state attorney just doesn’t wake up in the morning and file charges against somebody. They like to do their due diligence. The mere fact that someone hit someone who dies doesn’t automatically mean it’s a crime.”

Ironically, the man Eismann hit would have loved to have the former chef as a mentor.

Ruiz was planning to attend culinary school next year at Miami Dade College, his widow said.

“He was always talking about his ideas for making his own restaurant,” said Celia Guezara. “It was his dream.”