What to Know
- Ricardo Gonzalez was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon and charged with four counts, including vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter.
- The arrest stems from the crash on NW 37th Avenue and 9th Street when Gonzalez allegedly struck 77-year-old Hilda Garcia.
Miami Police have arrested and charged a man they say struck and killed an elderly woman in a hit-and-run crash late Sunday night.
Ricardo Gonzalez was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon and charged with four counts, including vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter, officials said. The 25-year-old was being held on no bond pending his first appearance before a judge.
Police say Gonzalez turned himself in about an hour after the family of 77-year-old Hilda Garcia made a public plea to find the driver.
Employees of El Caribe Restaurant in Miami say several officers were having lunch when Gonzalez approached them and blurted out "It's me, I did it." He was taken into custody in the restaurant.
The arrest stems from the crash on NW 37th Avenue and 9th Street when Gonzalez allegedly struck Garcia as she was crossing the street. Garcia, who would have turned 78 this week, died at the scene.
"I say thank you to Miami Police because they worked very hard to find the person who killed my sister," said Mireya Bolaños, the victim's sister.
Police received a phone call Wednesday about a car that had visual damage in a Pembroke Pines neighborhood earlier in the week.
Gonzalez told investigators, according to the report, that he had smoked marijuana before the crash and knew that he had hit something but said he was "scared for his life" and fled the scene to stay with a friend.
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"My message for everybody is to please drive carefully," said Bolaños. "Because they destroyed an innocent life. And they destroyed my family."
Miami Police are working to recover what is left of the car after Gonzalez told investigators that he sold it to a junkyard, which later shipped it out of state.
