Former college football player, 2 others arrested after BMW smashes into a Miami house
A former college football player and a self-described “Free Lance Opportunist” were among the three men arrested after an SUV smashed through a metal fence and into the carport of a house owned by the Miami church next door.
The BMW X3 crashed into the house Tuesday morning and the damage remained Tuesday afternoon. By Tuesday night, Miami police had arrested Hialeah resident Davontae McCrae, 22; Miami resident Berge Orozco, 21; and North Miami-Dade resident Ahmad Lee, 23.
Miami police claim that although officers first encountered the SUV 19 blocks south of the crash, there was no pursuit before the crash. Also, they say they caught the men with guns, one of which was stolen in Miami Gardens.
Police say McCrae was the driver of the BMW X3, so he was charged with fleeing and eluding and leaving the scene of an accident, carrying a concealed firearm and resisting an officer without violence.
Lee was arrested on charges of grand theft of a firearm, concealed firearm carry and resisting an officer without violence. Orozco was arrested on the latter two charges.
All three had bonded out of Miami-Dade Corrections custody by Wednesday morning.
McCrae was a highly recruited football player out of Miami Northwestern High in 2018. He went to North Carolina State, but after not playing a down his freshman year, transferred to Eastern Mississippi Community College. From there, he transferred to North Texas State in 2020 and started 8 of 10 games. He doesn’t show as being on North Texas’ roster last season.
Orozco calls himself a “Free Lance Opportunist” on his LinkedIn page, which says he is an assistant baseball coach at Northwestern and does work with the Miami Marlins. Miami-Dade County Public Schools says he has no official affiliation with Northwestern. The Miami Marlins said he worked with a company they used, but hadn’t done so since 2021.
Miami police say around 11:20 a.m., the SUV driven by McCrae merged into a lane at Northwest Seventh Avenue and 28th Street, such that an officer had to swerve. When the officer hit the lights and siren, an arrest report says, McCrae ran the light one block north, at Northwest 29th Street. The officer in the cruiser says he “immediately stopped following the vehicle and observed, from afar,” McCrae run a red light at the busy Northwest Seventh Avenue and 36th Street intersection.
The officer said he was flagged down by a driver who said she’d been hit by the BMW X3, which then crashed into the house.
Video obtained by WSVN-Channel 7 shows the SUV smashing through the fence and into a carport of a house at 677 NW 47th St. Three men jump out and run in different directions.
The officer writing the arrest report said he chased the person who turned out to be McCrae and saw him toss a black gun at Northwest Sixth Court and 47th Street before being caught at Northwest Seventh Avenue and 46th Street. Lee was picked up on Northwest Sixth Court in the alley between Northwest 46th Street and 47th Street.
The report said Orozco was caught at Northwest Fifth Avenue and 47th Street, on the other side of Interstate 95. He allegedly had a black Glock 21, .45 caliber with one round chambered.
Police say when searching the SUV, they found a Smith & Wesson 5903 9mm gun with one round chambered and a magazine inserted. This is the gun that Miami police say Miami Gardens police reported as stolen.
Though the house appears abandoned, the large side yard bordering Northwest Seventh Avenue is well-kept and contains a sign for Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church. Miami-Dade property records say the church, which sits across an alley, owns the house.
This story was originally published June 8, 2022 at 10:13 AM.
