HIALEAH, Fla. – Two people died and two others were hospitalized Tuesday night following a three-vehicle crash in Hialeah, authorities confirmed.
According to Hialeah police Lt. Eddie Rodriguez, the crash occurred near 483 SE Fifth St.
He said one of the vehicles involved in the collision struck a parked vehicle.
“It was right before it was turning dark -- we heard, like, a big explosion,” Ricardo Redondo, who lives nearby, said. “Because on the corner many people take the stop sign, so we figured it was in the front. And that’s when we realized, wait, there’s one car in the backyard and the other one is towards the front. I called 911 right away, literally before checking the car because it looked so bad. You couldn’t even see the people with all the airbags that had blown out on both cars.”
Two people were pronounced dead at the scene and a third person was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Rodriguez said a fourth person was transported by ground to JMH.
According to police, one of the drivers was a 14-year-old boy whose parents didn’t know he took their car.
The teen spoke to Local 10 News’ Glenna Milberg, telling her that he did not have a license. He also said the vehicle that he hit had just run a stop sign.
“I just took it, the keys were there and I just took it,” said the teen, whose identity Local 10 News is not releasing.
The three women in the second car are all from Hialeah, police said. Driving the car was 39-year-old Yarnia Garcia Hernandez. She and her aunt, 53-year-old Gloria Hernandez, were in the front seat. Both were killed in the crash.
Hernandez’s mother, 66-year-old Liliana Hernandez Molina, was in the back seat. She remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, according to authorities.
Residents in the area said drivers on the street where the accident occurred frequently fly through the intersection’s two stop signs.
“At the corner, many people take the stop sign, so we figured it was in the front,” Redondo said.
What investigators know about the crash comes from surveillance video, which they have not yet made public.
The cause of the collision remains under investigation, but the video apparently shows that the second vehicle did not safely stop, which is why detectives did not charge the teen.