Michele Traverso Arrested In Fatal Hit-And-Run On Rickenbacker

Miami police report they have arrested Michele Traverso, 25, in the Rickenbacker Causeway hit-and-run on Wednesday morning that left one cyclist injured and one cyclist dead.

Just before 6 a.m., Aaron Cohen and Enda Walsh were cycling eastbound on the Key Biscayne causeway when they were struck by Traverso. He fled the scene and the cyclists were transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Walsh told CBS Miami, "We didn’t even see anything. Then there was a loud bang and the next thing you know, I was on the ground and Aaron was 30 feet up the road lying on his back on the road not moving."

Walsh was released from the hospital after being treated for a leg injury.

Cohen died at Jackson's Ryder Trauma Center on Thursday after sustaining a serious head injury. WSVN7 reports that on Wednesday, doctors removed his spleen and tried to reduce swelling in his brain through surgery.

Police initially searched for a suspect in a silver Honda. Yet officers found a black Honda Civic parked at a Key Biscayne condo complex with major damage to its hood and windshield, Simmons told HuffPost Miami.

Simmons added that the traffic homicide detective said a few years ago, another resident in the same condo complex fled the scene after a hit-and-run on Rickenbacker.

Traverso turned himself in Wednesday night, said Simmons. He is charged with leaving the scene of an accident, causing serious bodily injury, and driving with a suspended license. Additional charges are pending.

Rickenbacker Causeway is the most popular biking route in Miami and it's also one of the most lethal. Last year, pop singer Carlos Bertonatti was driving drunk when he struck and killed a 44-year-old South Miami cyclist.

After Bertonatti's fatal hit-and-run, Transit Miami suggested a list of improvements for the causeway that could save cyclists' lives.

In the short term, Transit Miami's Felipe Azenha says the speed limit should be reduced and the right lane closed to traffic between 6 and 10 a.m. on the weekends, the peak of cyclist traffic.

In the long term, the blogger suggests painted bike lanes and a 3-foot buffer between the bike lane and car traffic.