Charges in Miami Beach crash upped to vehicular homicide after woman dies in hospital
A woman who was seriously injured in a Miami Beach car crash last week died in the hospital from her injuries Monday night, police said.
As for Nicholas Robinson, the man who hit her Jeep Wrangler, which was parked on the westbound shoulder of the MacArthur Causeway, has been charged with her death, said Officer Christopher Bess, a Miami Beach police spokesman.
Police say Robinson, from District Heights, Maryland, was drinking at a bar hours earlier to celebrate his 24th birthday. He was driving a Polestar Model 2 car west on the causeway when he slammed into the Jeep, which a police officer just moments before moved to the shoulder because it was disabled.
Sitting in the Jeep was 19-year-old Gabriela Alejandra Rios Flores. Police estimate Robinson was driving at around 100 mph in a 40-mph zone when he hit her vehicle. The impact ejected Rios Flores and sent the Jeep over the concrete divider, according to Robinson's arrest report.
Paramedics took her to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where she was succumbed to her injuries Monday, Bess said. Police have not responded to questions asking where Rios Flores is from.
Robinson was originally facing charges of driving under the influence, causing serious bodily injury, and reckless driving, causing serious bodily injury — but he's now looking at more serious charges with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
'As a result of this tragedy, the charges against defendant Nicholas Robinson have been upgraded to vehicular homicide,' Bess said.
Robinson's attorney, Evan Hoffman, told the Herald he was still reviewing the details of the case.
'We have to make sure all of his rights are protected while maintaining the dignity of the victim. Let's see what the criminal justice system has to say before anyone passes judgment,' Hoffman said.
Robinson is being held at Metro West Detention Center on a $200,000 bond for the original counts and for the vehicular homicide charge.
Officers who witnessed Robinson's car moments before the horrific crash said his estimated speed was 100 mph in a 40 mph zone, according to his arrest report.
The Jeep broke down in the middle of the Causeway, and an officer pushed it onto the shoulder minutes before the crash.
After hitting the Jeep, Robinson's Polestar came to a stop in the eastbound lanes of the Causeway, according to the arrest report.
An officer who saw the Polestar speed by him as he drove east on the Causeway, and then saw debris fly in the air, turned around toward the crash scene. When he arrived, police say the officer, Sgt. Juan Suarez, ordered Robinson out of the car at gunpoint.
Robinson spontaneously told police, 'Why are you stopping me? It's my birthday,' and asked, 'Did you get the other car,' the report states.
'The defendant appeared completely unaware he was just involved in a traffic crash and that he had struck another vehicle where the occupant was fully ejected outside of the vehicle,' police added.
Cops cuffed and placed him in the back seat of a patrol car, where he vomited, according to the report. Officers also noted he had slurred speech, bloodshot eyes and emitted a heavy odor of alcohol.
Robinson declined to voluntarily submit a blood sample for police to test for alcohol, prompting officers to obtain a warrant for his blood from a judge. Miami Beach Fire Rescue paramedics took a sample, the results of which were not immediately available.
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