A Florida man was allegedly so drunk that he was “completely unaware” as to why police stopped him after slamming into a parked car. The woman inside the parked car was ejected and later died from her injuries.
The crash occurred on the MacArthur Causeway, temporarily closing the areas between Fountain St. and 5 St. & Alton Rd. on Friday, Feb. 21, the Miami Beach Police Department said in an X update.
Nicholas Devon Robinson, 24, who was on his way back from a birthday party at a South Beach bar, was behind the wheel of a silver Polestar Model 2, WSVN reported.
According to CBS affiliate WFOR-TV, NBC affiliate WTVJ and ABC affiliate WPLG, citing an arrest report, moments before the crash, a Miami Beach Police officer had helped move a Jeep Wrangler driven by 19-year-old Gabriela Alejandra Rios Flores onto the shoulder after it broke down.
With Rios Flores inside, the car was positioned on the left side of the westbound lanes when Robinson, allegedly driving an estimated 100 mph in the 40 mph zone, began swerving, hitting a cement triangle road divider and the Jeep from behind, the outlets reported.
The impact caused the Jeep to go over the cement road divider, causing Rios Flores to be ejected.
Officers said Robinson allegedly appeared to be “completely unaware that he was just involved in a traffic crash” while he was being detained and asked, “Why are you stopping me, it’s my birthday and did you get the other car?” He later vomited in the back seat of a patrol vehicle.
According to the outlets, detectives determined that Robinson exhibited “possible signs of impairment,” including slurred speech, an odor of alcohol and bloodshot, watery eyes.
After Robinson refused to take a blood test, police were ordered to obtain a warrant for a blood sample before he was booked into jail.
He was arrested on charges of reckless driving causing serious bodily injury and DUI with serious bodily injury, online jail records reviewed by PEOPLE show.
Rios Flores was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center in critical condition, where she later succumbed to injuries, WPLG reported. This caused Robinson to be given an additional charge of vehicular homicide/reckless manner, online jail records show.
A prosecutor said the charges against Robinson could be upgraded to manslaughter during a court appearance, per WTVJ. Robinson is currently being held at the Metrowest Detention Center on a $200,000 bond.
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Rios Flores is remembered as a Florida International University student majoring in communications after graduating from the Escuela Interamericana in El Salvador, per WPLG.
PEOPLE reached out to the Miami Beach Police Department for comment.
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