A BMW hit a Tesla and left, Miami Beach cops say. But that’s not why a man was arrested
A hit-and-run in Miami Beach early Thursday ended with a BMW crashed in front of one of the city’s most well-known buildings and the arrest of a passenger who, police say, carried a loaded rifle.
North Miami-Dade resident Blake Graham, 20, was arrested on charges of openly carrying a weapon and resisting an officer without violence.
No one was hurt in the incident just before 5 a.m. on 41st Street, also known as Arthur Godfrey Road. The BMW’s four passengers all were detained, Miami Beach police said, but only Graham was charged. The scene cleared in time for the start of rush hour.
The BMW wound up nuzzling a tree in front of the Giller Building, a teal-colored building of medical professional offices that’s been a landmark at Alton Road and 41st Street since its 1957 construction.
An arrest report says an officer in the 800 block of 41st Street, about two blocks east of the Giller Building, saw the BMW crash into a parked Tesla. Then the BMW (Ohio license plate HMB3291) kept heading west, bouncing over a median before crashing in front of the Giller Building.
The report says an officer spotted Graham 50 yards west, on the slice of Bay Road near the Julia Tuttle Causeway, trying to get into a car. When the car spotted the police cruiser, it zoomed away, the report said, leaving Graham holding an ATI Omni rifle in his left hand.
Graham surrendered without more fuss.
This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 8:00 AM.
