What to Know
- Franco had initially been charged with tampering with physical evidence after investigators say he threw away over a dozen spray cans.
Additional charges have been filed against the man police say fatally ran over a man and injured his wife and children as they walked on a Sunny Isles Beach sidewalk.
Miami-Dade Police filed the charges against 27-year-old Joseph Franco, which included vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter and three counts each of driving under the influence and reckless driving, for the July 1, 2018 crash that killed 34-year-old Amir Pelleg.
Pelleg was walking with his wife and daughters, ages 6 and 2, near the 17400 block of Collins Avenue when the Honda Odyssey minivan driven by Franco veered off the road and struck the family before hitting a wall according to the initial police report.
Pelleg died at the scene while his wife was in a coma after the crash. Both children suffered broken bones.
Franco had initially been charged with tampering with physical evidence after investigators say he threw away over a dozen spray cans in a nearby trash can. The charges were increased after prosecutors determined he was high on nitrous oxide, also known as “whippets”, at the time of the crash.
Officers arrested Franco on Wednesday and is being held on a $77,500 bond. He had previously been released on a $5,000 and given house arrest after the initial charge.
