Police car strikes, kills cyclist near Black Point. A week later, few details from police
A Miami bicyclist on his regular Saturday morning group ride near Black Point Park and Marina was killed in a head-on collision with a Miami-Dade County police car last week, according to friends and former colleagues of Juan Carlos Martinez, 30.
Police confirmed the Feb. 27 death of Martinez but nearly a week after the accident could not yet provide an incident report or many details about what happened.
Cyclists in the group of about 20 said they were pedaling west on Southwest 248th Street near Southwest 122nd Place when Martinez was struck by a patrol car driving east at a high rate of speed with its lights flashing and siren blaring. The cyclists saw the car approaching in the opposite lane and told each other to be alert and slow down. The officer driving the car veered slightly to his left around another cyclist on his side of the narrow two-lane road, bringing him closer to the group on the north side of the road.
As the cyclists in the pack braked, Martinez’s front wheel brushed the back wheel of another rider and he fell into the path of the oncoming car, according to the cyclists, said Ricardo Rix, a Mack Cycle and Fitness employee who used to work with Martinez at the store. It’s unclear whether the car or Martinez crossed the center line.
“JC was an experienced cyclist and triathlete but the one thing that is hard to control and that can cause you to go down quickly is touching wheels,” Rix said. “It sounds like it was a close call for others in the group as the cop car was maneuvering at a fast speed.”
Martinez, a native of Venezuela who lived in the Buena Vista neighborhood, is survived by his wife and nine-month-old daughter.
“Awful, awful, and we still can’t believe it’s true,” said Mary Jane Mark, president and owner of Mack Cycle. “He was a gentleman, polite, kind and well-liked by our staff and customers.”
Rix described Martinez as “an awesome, friendly, smart guy who was so excited to be a father.”
Miami-Dade Police Lt. Carlos Rosario said investigating fatal traffic accidents can take some time, especially when there are several witnesses to interview.
“We are investigating and looking at the physical evidence,” he said.
Martinez’s death was at least the second in eight months involving a cyclist and a Miami-Dade police car. On the morning of June 28, 2020, Hector Echeverria, 57, and Alain Nieves Leon, 35, were riding westward on Arthur Lamb Jr. Road on Virginia Key when an officer in a cruiser traveling in the opposite direction turned left at the intersection with Sewage Plant Road and crashed head-on into them. Echeverria, a MAST Academy teacher and cancer survivor, was killed and Nieves Leon was injured.
In yet another incident on Friday, a Miami cyclist said he feels lucky to be alive after he was hit from behind by the driver of a speeding Jeep Cherokee on Brickell Avenue at 6:04 a.m. on Friday. After slamming into a light pole and tree and totaling his car, the driver fled the scene, walked back 30 minutes later to retrieve a backpack, attempted to flee again in an Uber, then walked away before police arrived, leaving a gun on the floorboard by the accelerator, according to witnesses.
Michael Hernandez was preparing for a group ride and riding his bike north slowly along the sidewalk on the east side of Brickell near where it bends to the left at Southeast 15th Road when he heard tires screeching behind him.
“I look back and see the car flying at me at about 60 mph,” he said. “He clipped my back wheel and exploded it but other than being sore all over I am OK. Considering how he destroyed the light pole this would have been a lot worse if I’d been one foot closer.”
Hernandez said a pedestrian and three others in his cycling group called police immediately but they didn’t arrive until 7:10 a.m. In the meantime, the driver walked away.
“We told him, ‘Hey, you can’t leave the scene of an accident,’” said Hernandez, a manager at Best Buddies x Rosetta Bakery, a partnership that employs people with developmental disabilities. He was preparing to lead a weekly donor ride Friday.
“He comes back later, rummages around in the car, takes out a backpack, and tries to get in the Uber he had called, but we told the Uber driver not to take him.,” Hernandez said. “Then he walks away again. My dad is a police officer and this guy was acting skittish so we did not restrain or pursue him. There was a gun and an open bottle of alcohol in the car.”
Hernandez, 23, was a pro cyclist for the Aveolo team in Colorado Springs. He’d never been hit by a car until moving to Miami.
“You figure 6 a.m. is usually a safe time to ride,” he said. “But I’ve heard the drivers can be really erratic here.”
Miami police confirmed the incident at 1451 Brickell Avenue, but had not completed a report as of Friday evening. The driver has not been apprehended.
Miami Herald staff writer Charles Rabin contributed to this report.
