Miami Beach hit-and-run suspect’s run ends in Georgia

Despite all the jurisdictions searching for Frank Strachan on fraud charges when U.S. marshals captured him in Georgia Sunday, the death of United Kingdom tourist Andrew Hamilton put Miami-Dade County first in line.

Strachan will be extradited to Miami-Dade County and charged with vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a fatal crash and causing a death through careless driving while driving without a license in Hamilton’s death on October 13. Miami Beach police say Strachan is a fugitive from fraud charges in several states, including Georgia, and on probation from a New York conviction.

Police say Strachan, in a silver 2012 BMW 650i convertible, blasted out of the Royal Palm Hotel parking garage at 1545 Collins Ave. with tires squealing into traffic in the wee hours of a Tuesday morning. That caught the attention of a nearby policeman in a car, who hit his lights and made a U-turn. Police say Strachan zoomed away, slaloming in and out of traffic on both sides of the street. Andrew Hamilton was crossing Collins at 11th Street.

The 4,300-pound car speeding at an estimated 70 to 100 mph knocked Hamilton approximately 230 feet. Parts of Hamilton’s body smashed through the windshield.

Strachan stopped the car and ran off, police said. Video surveillance from the Tudor Hotel at 11th and Collins caught the collision, and video surveillance cameras at the Royal Palm caught Strachan returning to his hotel room and leaving the hotel.

That was the last Miami Beach saw of Strachan.

This story was originally published August 2, 2016 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Miami Beach hit-and-run suspect’s run ends in Georgia."