A silver BMW overturned early Monday morning on the Palmetto highway in Miami Lakes, after fleeing from agents of the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) who were attempting to stop it for speeding, as confirmed by the agency itself.
The accident left three people hospitalized and also damaged a police patrol.
How the persecution occurred
According to local media, it all began around 4:13 in the morning when FHP officers attempted to stop the driver of the BMW, who was heading south on State Road 826, near Northwest 47th Avenue.
The driver ignored the stop sign and fled the scene.
Lieutenant Alejandro Camacho, spokesperson for the FHP, confirmed the events in an official statement cited by the Miami Herald.
The driver tried to take the exit to Northwest 154th Street, but the speed at which he was traveling prevented him from completing the turn.
The BMW veered off the road, rolled down the embankment, collided with a drainage ditch, and flipped over.
The condition of the injured and the accident involving the patrol
The three people who were traveling in the BMW were taken to a hospital in the area.
Camacho specified that they received medical attention for “injuries that are not life-threatening.”
A patrol from the FHP also descended the embankment and collided with the BMW during the chase, according to Telemundo 51.
The officer driving the police unit was not injured.
Local 10 News broadcasted live from the scene and described what they found upon arrival.
"We have been here for the last 20 minutes watching this BMW behind me that rolled over from the highway into an embankment. You can see that they already have that vehicle on the ramp, but they have been working down on the embankment to flip that car," the reporter stated.
"Three people were taken to the hospital as a result of this crash. This happened on the ramp from Miami Lakes Boulevard to the Palmetto. That ramp is closed at this time," he added.
Pending criminal charges and high-risk area
The FHP did not disclose the identity of the occupants of the BMW, but it did announce that "criminal charges are expected" against them, according to the Miami Herald.
The Miami-Dade Police Department, the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office, and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue also responded to the scene.
The Palmetto Expressway is one of the busiest routes in Miami-Dade County, spanning nearly 30 miles across the northwest part of the county and connecting Miami Lakes with Hialeah and other locations in the metropolitan area.
The area where the incident occurred has been the scene of other recent accidents, including a vehicle that was traveling the wrong way on the highway last September.
In recent months, the same highway was the scene of another police chase in Miami-Dade that ended with the arrest of a suspect who had stolen a vehicle from Palmetto General Hospital in Hialeah.
The FHP's updated pursuit policy as of January 2026, requires the officer to assess whether the action is "objectively reasonable" considering the road conditions, traffic, visibility, and the speed of the vehicle being pursued, and to immediately notify the regional communication center.
Related videos:
Filed under: