‘You should have never left, champ’: Corvette driver tails Camaro driver accused of fleeing South Beach fender bender

By Sheldon Fox, Rubén Rosario

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    MIAMI BEACH, Florida (WSVN) — It was a crash and dash in South Beach as the driver of a sports car was caught on camera hitting another sports car and took off, but the victim would lead police to the suspect.

While this wasn’t officially a hit-and-run, surveillance video obtained exclusively by 7News is now being considered evidence in this case.

Monday got off to a destructive start for Julio Solano after, he said, his Corvette found itself in the path of a driver who was trying to park next to him.

“I was working, I parked right there, and all of a sudden, a red Camaro slammed into me,” he said.

Solano said the motorist turned straight into his parked Corvette near 15th Street and Collins Avenue.

“And I honk, and I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’” he said.

From his dinged up Corvette, a revved-up Solano first did what one is supposed to do after a fender bender.

“I told the guy, “Hey, wait, wait. Don’t go nowhere, don’t go nowhere. I’m going to call the cops, and we can exchange information,’” he said. “He looked at me, and he goes, ‘That’s not gonna happen,’ and he started fleeing the crime scene.”

But Solano was not about to take the Camaro driver’s reckless move lying down.

“I can’t let this guy get away,” he said. “I called 911.”

Moments later, Solano was on the phone with a dispatcher.

“I already have the police en route to your location,” said the dispatcher.

“He’s trying to leave the crime scene right now,” Solano told the dispatcher.

“He’s not getting away from me, no matter what,” he told 7News.

“He’s not leaving the crime scene, at all,” Solano told the dispatcher.

“OK, sir,” said the dispatcher.

Solano suddenly found himself in the middle of a cat-and-mouse game with the person who had just hit his car and sped off, tailing that Camaro down South Beach streets.

“That’s when I started recording,” he said.

While he recorded video, Solano continued talking to the dispatcher, who told him to put the brakes on his pursuit.

“Stop following the vehicle, sir,” said the dispatcher.

“The cops are here. The cops are here. Hold on, the cops are here!” said Solano.

“The cops are right behind him, they’re telling him to pull over, and he’s not listening,” Solano told 7News.

“He’s trying to leave from police?” asked the dispatcher.

“Yes, he’s trying to escape,” said Solano.

The Camaro’s driver finally complied at Washington Avenue and 14th Street.

“There, he’s pulling over,” Solanois heard saying in his cellphone video.

The dispatcher and Miami Beach Police officers made sure Solano kept his distance. Still, he was able to yell out some advice to the driver who hit his car.

“You should have never left, champ!” Solano is heard yelling. “You should have stayed your ass over there.”

Police told 7News on Tuesday that the Camaro’s driver was ticketed for the crash but not charged criminally, because there wasn’t probable cause to do so.

Investigators also said the driver told them he didn’t know he had hit the Corvette.

But Solano insisted that’s not what went down.

“He knew,” he said.

On Wednesday, 7News discovered surveillance footage of the incident, showing the Camaro driving off, and provided it to Miami Beach Police. Detectives said it is now considered evidence.

In a statement, Miami Beach Police Officer Christopher Bss wrote that the deparment’s “Accident Investigations Unit is conducting a follow-up investigation.”

Patrol officers processed the scene where the driver of the Camaro pulled over. Their goal was to de-escalate the situation. Now the detectives are trying to figure out the rest.

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