Miami-Dade police chase ends with a dead driver and an injured cop, authorities say

A Miami Beach armed robbery from earlier this week turned into a police chase Tuesday night — culminating in a crash that killed the driver and injured a Miami-Dade officer, law enforcement said.

Details about the Monday robbery and resultant crash were sparse, but investigators said three people have been detained — Javarie Johnson, Christopher Barry and Ronald Spencer. What, if any, charges they will be facing is unclear.

The robbery happened Monday evening in South Beach, Miami Beach spokesman Christopher Bess told the Herald on Wednesday. Miami Beach police sent an alert to police departments to be on the lookout for the vehicle, Bess said.

A Miami-Dade police helicopter spotted a vehicle matching the description of the car connected to the robbery around 8:20 p.m. Tuesday somewhere in the county, Det. Alvaro Zabaleta, an MDPD spokesman, told the Miami Herald in an email.

Earlier on Wednesday, Miami-Dade police incorrectly said the robbery had happened Tuesday evening.

As detectives from MDPD’s Robbery Intervention Detail responded Tuesday night, a passenger rolled out of the vehicle being chased on North Miami Avenue and “battered” a woman seated at a bus stop. The passenger then ran away; police later detained him.

“The subject vehicle continued to flee westbound on NW 103 Street from North Miami Avenue at a high rate of speed with the headlights off,” Zabaleta said.

A Miami-Dade officer in a police car traveling east on Northwest 103rd Street saw the car and “attempted to avoid a collision,” Zabaleta said. Both vehicles crashed at the intersection of Northwest 103rd Street and First Avenue in Miami Shores. The police officer did not have his car’s emergency lights on.

Zabaleta said three people inside the vehicle were taken into custody and the driver, 28-year-old Kadrian Devante Spencer, died at Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

“The female that was battered during the altercation was transported by a family member to Jackson Memorial Hospital and is being medically evaluated for non-life-threatening injuries,” Zabaleta added. “The officer involved in the crash sustained non-life-threatening injuries and is also being medically evaluated by hospital staff.”

This story will be updated as more information is available.