Man was driving drunk at 100 mph when he plowed into woman parked on MacArthur Causeway: cops
Miami Beach police arrested a Maryland man who officers say was celebrating a birthday and driving drunk at 100 mph when he plowed his car into a Jeep parked on the shoulder of the MacArthur Causeway early Friday morning, leaving a woman hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
Nicholas Devon Robinson, from District Heights, Maryland, was driving from a South Beach bar shortly after police say midnight when he slammed his Polestar Model 2 into the Wrangler, ejecting the passenger and sending her vehicle over the concrete divider.
Officers who witnessed Robinson’s car moments before the horrific crash said his estimated speed was 100 mph in a 40 mph zone, according to his arrest report.
Just minutes earlier, the Jeep broke down in the middle of the Causeway, and an officer pushed it onto the shoulder. The woman inside the vehicle, 19-year-old Gabriela Alejandra Rios Flores, was taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in critical condition.
A Miami Beach police spokesperson said Flores remained in critical condition as of Monday evening.
After hitting the Jeep, Robinson’s Polestar came to a stop in the eastbound lanes of the Causeway, according to the report.
An officer who saw the Polestar speed by him as he drove east on the Causeway, and then saw debris fly up in the air, turned around toward the crash scene. When he arrived, police say the officer, Sgt. Juan Suarez, ordered Robinson out of the car at gunpoint.
Robinson spontaneously told police, “Why are you stopping me? It’s my birthday,” and asked, “Did you get the other car,” the report states.
“The defendant appeared completely unaware he was just involved in a traffic crash and that he had struck another vehicle where the occupant was fully ejected outside of the vehicle,” police added.
Robinson had been celebrating his 24th birthday at a Miami Beach lounge before the crash, according to the report.
Cops cuffed him and placed him in the back seat of a patrol car, where he vomited, per the report. Officers also noted he had slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and emitted a heavy odor of alcohol.
Robinson declined to voluntarily submit a blood sample for police to test for alcohol, prompting officers to obtain a warrant for his blood from a judge. Miami Beach Fire Rescue paramedics took a sample, the results of which were not immediately available.
As of Monday afternoon, Robinson was locked up at the Metro West Detention Center with bond yet to be set. He faces a charge of driving under the influence, causing serious bodily injury, and reckless driving, causing serious bodily injury.
This story was originally published February 24, 2025 at 6:41 PM.
