MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Newly-released surveillance video shows a Miami Beach police officer drive away after onlookers notified him that a driver hit a cyclist right outside of the department’s headquarters and kept going.
The victim died after being taken to the hospital. Officer Edward Cavalie would end up out of a job because of his “negligent” lack of action, the city’s police chief said.
Cavalie had been on the force for less than a year when police said Demarcus Cortez Harrington, driving a Ford Bronco, hit 63-year-old cyclist Esmat Ahmed Ibrahim Khedr in the 1100 block of Washington Avenue and left her for dead on April 28.
In a statement, Miami Beach police Chief Wayne Jones said that Cavalie, after being notified of the crash, “directed the civilians who reported the collision to enter the police station and file the report themselves,” then drove off.
An arrest warrant states that after the witness went inside the station, another officer responded and found Khedr, of Miami Beach, unconscious and not breathing; doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital pronounced her dead.
Jones said internal investigators were notified of Cavalie’s lack of action three days later. The officer, sworn in on July 11, 2023, was still in his probationary period.
“This response was negligent and a clear violation of our departmental policy,” Jones said. “After a comprehensive investigation, Mr. Cavalie’s employment was terminated immediately.”
Harrington, 43, of Dania Beach, would be arrested by Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies in July and brought back to Miami-Dade County.
A witness told police that he saw Harrington “look back through his passenger side mirror and shrug his shoulders as he sped away from the scene,” an arrest warrant states.
Police said an acquaintance who had been driving another Ford Bronco tried to get Harrington to return to the scene, but he refused, stating he was “not going back to jail.”
Harrington has had multiple stints of probation, parole and prison in Iowa, according to records from that state’s corrections department.
Harrington, listed in jail and court records under the name “Cortez Harrington Demarcus,” remained in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Wednesday on a charge of leaving the scene of a crash causing death.
He’s scheduled to make another appearance in court on Oct. 2.
As for Cavalie, Jones said his “actions are not indicative of the dedication and professionalism of the hardworking men and women of the Miami Beach Police Department.”
“It is critical to emphasize that every member of this department is held to the highest standards, and any behavior similar to that exhibited by Mr. Cavalie will not be tolerated,” the chief said. “Our prayers remain with the victim of this tragic incident.”