Coral Gables police shoot at a stolen car near UM

A Coral Gables police officer opened fire on a car Tuesday night after officers tried to pull the driver over when the tag was picked up by a license plate reader as stolen, according to police.

Officer Kelly Denham said police surrounded the Toyota and that’s when the driver took off, crossed the grassy median underneath the Metrorail station off U.S. 1, drove onto Ponce de Leon Boulevard and continued southbound.

That’s when the driver attempted to strike an officer. The officer shot at the car, Denham said.

The driver was not hit and continued on Ponce de Leon Boulevard and collided with two cars. The drivers of the hit cars suffered minor injuries.

After the crash, the Toyota couldn’t be driven and the man took off running into the Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field on San Amaro Drive, the baseball field inside the university's campus.

Officers chased him and took him into custody, Denham said. Miami-Dade police responded because the car was stolen in the county, Denham said.

Coral Gables internal affairs will investigate because an officer opened fire.

Meanwhile, traffic in the area was stalled as police closed Ponce de Leon Boulevard between Granada Boulevard and San Amaro Drive, the southbound right lane of U.S. 1 and Brescia Avenue across from the baseball stadium.

UM police told students via Twitter to avoid the southeastern section of campus, but said there was no “threat to life safety.”

An hour later police tweeted that the campus was safe.

Isabella Cueto is news editor of The Miami Hurricane at the University of Miami.

This story was originally published February 14, 2017 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Coral Gables police shoot at a stolen car near UM."