Police search for hit and run suspect; victims say it was hate crime.
NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) -- Police are searching for a man that crashed into two girls walking home from school, injuring one of them.
The victims, 15 year-old Basha Gerstenfeld and Johana Navarro, both students of Bais Yaakov, a private Hebrew school, they were walking home last Wednesday while the driver was stopped at a crossway. The suspect made contact with the girls, looked at their traditional Jewish dress, and sped toward them, leaving Gerstenfeld with a broken arm. "It's really important to catch him. No one should be going around hitting people, and getting away with it. It's not right," said Gerstenfeld.
The teenage girl believes this was a case of semitism. "It is known that this is a Jeweish school, we were wearing the uniform. He was staring straight at us; and then he just moved into us. I made sure he was looking before we crossed the street. He deliberately just pushed into us," said Navarro, the other victim.
North Miami Beach Police are still unsure what the motive what the driver was, or if this was a hate crime. " If you have a traffic crash, and you decide to flee, you just turned a simple crash into a crime. If he would've stayed on the scene, presented his dovuments when police got there, done the right thing, this wouldn't have been an issue right now. he fact that he fled, turned his crash into a crime," said seargeant Warren Hardison.
Authorities say the description of the suspect's vehicle is a green Jeep Cherokee from the early 90's.
If you have any information on this crime, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a reward.
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