Feds arrest man who cops say was driving in Florida hit-and-run that killed a mom, 2 girls
The man police suspect was the driver in a fiery hit-and-run crash that killed a mother and her two daughters in the Miami area last month has been taken into custody by federal agents in North Carolina, according to authorities.
Julius Bernstein was arrested Tuesday afternoon by the U.S. Marshals Service on several open warrants not related to the June 27 fatal hit-and-run crash on the 79th Street Causeway in North Bay Village, Deputy U.S. Marshal Roberto Gonzalez, a spokesman for the agency, told the Miami Herald on Wednesday. The 24-year-old man was arrested at about 4 p.m. in Charlotte, N.C., Gonzalez added.
Investigators suspect Bernstein, who hasn’t had a driver’s license since 2016, was the speeding driver involved in the crash that killed Cynthia Orsatelliz and her two daughters, Maria, 12, and Sophia, 15, Lt. Luis J. Sierra, a spokesman for Miami-Dade police, said Tuesday in an email.
READ MORE: Driver accused of killing 3 in Miami Beach area hit-and-run lost his license in 2016
The North Bay Village Police Department is grateful for its law enforcement partners’ “relentless efforts” with this case, Chief Carlos Noriega said Tuesday in a statement.
“The entire NBV community can now begin to heal as we continue to grieve with the victims’ family and hope that justice is served to the individual responsible for this horrific tragedy,” Noriega added.
Florida Department of Corrections records list Bernstein as an “absconder,” which means he was on the run.
Records show Bernstein is serving a three-year probation after convictions on three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer; three counts of fleeing law enforcement with no regard for safety of people or property; three counts of tampering with an electronic monitoring device; three counts of resisting an officer with violence; and three counts of resisting an officer without violence
Miami Herald staff writer David J. Neal contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 27, 2022 at 10:11 AM.
