The teen was left to die on a busy road. Cops are looking for driver who hit him and ran
Derek Betancourt was riding his bicycle Sunday night on a busy Northwest Miami-Dade street when a driver slammed into him and left him to die in the road.
On Monday, police were asking for the community’s help in finding the person who hit the 18-year-old and then took off. Detectives say the driver was in a dark-colored, four-door 2015 to 2018 Mercedes Benz C300. The car is missing its left front outer grille, the front Mercedes emblem and could have front windshield damage.
“This was an 18-year-old who was just starting his life,” said Chris Thomas, a spokesman for Miami-Dade police. “His life was taken so quickly.”
According to police, Betancourt was in the area of the 19600 block of Northwest 47th Avenue just before 8 p.m. Sunday when he was hit.
Thomas said 47th Avenue is a heavily traveled road and detectives believe “someone would have seen something or heard something.”
Detectives are also hoping to find surveillance video in the area that may lead them to the driver.
“We want to be able to provide some type of closure to this family,” Thomas said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Det. J. Childers at 305-471-2425 or Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS (8477).
