Miami Beach Police are searching for a hit-and-run driver who killed a partially blind man in a crash.
The crash happened around 3 a.m. Saturday in the area of 67th Street and Collins Avenue, police said.
Police said 48-year-old Alfredo Rodriguez had just gotten off a bus after working all night with his wife at a South Beach restaurant when he was struck by the vehicle.
"He was hit at what they think was 50 mph at impact so he flew in the air for quite some distance, it was a very violent impact and he sustained very serious injuries on the scene," Miami Beach Police Sgt. Bobby Hernandez said.
He was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center where he died Monday.
Rodriguez and his wife had recently moved to South Florida from Uruguay.
"She's devastated, this is a new country to them, they're from Uruguay, right now she doesn't understand really what's going on," Hernandez said. "He was able to donate his organs to somebody that could benefit from it and hopefully bring somebody a better life. But unfortunately his life is gone, his wife's life is destroyed.'
Police said the vehicle, a small, possibly newer dark SUV, was last seen heading northbound from the scene and likely has front end damage.
A witness told NBC 6 Rodriguez was in the crosswalk across the street. The impact was so hard it sent him flying across the intersection.
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"And he got hit and he landed over there at the Walgreens on the other corner... the hit was too gruesome, he was gushing from the head I honestly didn't think he was going to make it," the witness said.
Investigators say Rodriguez and his wife worked together at a restaurant on Lincoln Road. Miami Beach Police want to bring closure to the family and find the driver.
"There's no way that he or she didn't know that they didn't hit this person," Hernandez said. "Not only did they leave the scene, they didn't render aid, they didn't call for help, they didn't do nothing, just left that person there to die in the street."
"Honestly it's not human like at all. I don't know someone who would do something like that. At least try.. it's your fault at least try see if he's okay at least try and stop," the witness added.
Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS.
