Cyclist killed by hit-and-run on the MacArthur, cops say. There is a ‘person of interest’
A driver, apparently hoping to get from South Beach fast, struck and killed a cyclist early Saturday morning on the MacArthur Causeway, according to police.
That driver took off after hitting the cyclist, Miami Beach police said.
Later Saturday afternoon, traffic homicide investigators recovered the car that is believed to be involved in the fatal hit-and-run, said Miami Beach police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez.
“They have identified a person of interest and are working to locate that individual.”
Rodriguez said the incident happened just after 1:20 a.m. in the westbound lanes of the MacArthur that takes drivers out of the city and toward Miami.
A car “traveling at a high rate of speed attempted to bypass traffic as all the lanes were occupied. The driver went on to the shoulder and bicycle lane of the causeway where they unfortunately struck and killed a cyclist before fleeing the scene,” Rodriguez said.
The department’s Traffic Homicide Unit investigating the crash spoke to a witness in the morning.
“Significant progress on our investigation has already been made,” Rodriguez said.
As a result of the hit-and-run, westbound Macarthur Causeway was closed until around noon Saturday morning. Drivers who wanted to leave South Beach had to for the Julia Tuttle Causeway or the Venetian Causeway, police said.
Details on the driver or make of the car won’t be released during this part of the investigation, Rodriguez said.
The victim’s name was not released Saturday afternoon, pending notification of next of kin.
This story was originally published August 10, 2019 at 9:09 AM.
