MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Authorities booked a man into the Miami-Dade County jail on Tuesday after they said he was behind the wheel in a fatal April hit-and-run crash in Miami Beach that left a bicyclist dead.
Convicted felon Demarcus Cortez Harrington, 43, of Dania Beach, is facing a charge of leaving the scene of a crash involving death.
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The crash happened at around 3:30 p.m. on April 28, in the 1100 block of Washington Avenue on South Beach, just outside of the Miami Beach Police Department headquarters.
According to an arrest warrant, Harrington and an acquaintance were returning Ford Broncos rented through the Turo app from Miami International Airport to their owner. Police said Harrington’s acquaintance, whom he knew through their mutual patronage at a local strip club, works on behalf of the app.
Police said Harrington tried to pass Esmat Ahmed Ibrahim Khedr, 63, of Miami Beach, as she rode her electric bicycle on the street, sideswiped her and knocked her off.
Khedr hit her head on the curb; Harrington kept driving, according to police.
A witness would later tell police that he saw Harrington “look back through his passenger side mirror and shrug his shoulders as he sped away from the scene,” the warrant states.
The warrant states that following the crash, another witness immediately went into the MBPD station to alert authorities; a responding officer found Khedr unconscious and not breathing. Medics took her to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Authorities said Harrington’s acquaintance had been following him and heard a “smack,” saw people raise their arms, and after the two stopped along Eighth Street, confronted Harrington about whether he had “run anyone over.”
Police said the man tried to convince Harrington to return to the scene and almost got into a fistfight with him, but Harrington said he was “not going back to jail,” a prediction which would later prove inaccurate. Authorities said Harrington left the Bronco in an alleyway.
The arrest warrant mentions Harrington’s “strong ties” to Iowa, a state in which he has an extensive criminal record.
Iowa Department of Corrections records show that Harrington has had multiple stints of probation, parole and prison stemming from convictions out of Black Hawk County starting in 2001.
He was back behind bars — this time in Broward County — after deputies arrested him in Dania Beach on July 16.
Following his extradition to Miami-Dade, Harrington — also known as “Dolla” — remained held without bond in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Wednesday afternoon.