A police officer and a suspected robbery were accidentally hit by a Miami Beach police cruiser Thursday night, police said.
Miami Herald
An officer prosecuting a suspected robbery in Miami Beach was “accidentally hit by a police cruiser” on Thursday night, local authorities said.
The officer was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital. The suspect, who was also hit by the cruiser, was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital. Both are expected to be fine, said Ernesto Rodriguez, Miami Beach police spokesman. As of Friday morning, the officer was home and recovering.
The suspect, identified Friday as Lajuan White, 29, now faces charges including robbery by sudden grab, cocaine possession, nonviolent resistance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He stays in the hospital.
It all started around 6:30 p.m. when White snatched a purse from a woman walking on Block 2200 of Beachwalk in South Beach, police said. The suspect, who was riding a bicycle, then left.
According to White’s affidavit, a witness — while he called 911 for help — followed close behind him.
Shortly after, three officers attempted to stop White, but he continued to drive away, according to the report.
The video, posted on Twitter by Only in Dade, showed several police cruisers with their lights on blocking the road near the W South Beach Hotel.
At one point, an officer who was on foot began “fighting” with the suspect when another officer who was in a cruiser “accidentally hit her,” Rodriguez said. He said the officer was taken to hospital “as a precaution”. Both were thrown to the ground.
WSVN video shows the officer arriving at the hospital on a stretcher wearing a neck brace.
White reportedly had several bags of cocaine and drug paraphernalia with him when he was taken into custody.
The woman whose purse was stolen suffered bruises, police said. According to the report, video in the area showed the purse being snatched and White running away.
This story was originally published Jan 28, 2022 8:42 am.
There’s never a dull moment in Florida—and Michelle covers it as a real-time, breaking news reporter for the Miami Herald. She graduated with honors from Florida International University, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of Student Media PantherNOW. She previously worked as a news writer at WSVN Channel 7 and was a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism Fellow.
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