A 30-year-old man accused of causing a crash in Sweetwater then slipping away in a rideshare told police he fled because he felt lightheaded and needed to lie down. Ahmmad Samir Kayyali was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of a crash with no serious injury and knowingly driving with a suspended license, following a collision that happened shortly before 9 p.m. Monday at Southwest 107th Avenue and Southwest 4th Street.
According to NBC 6 South Florida, an injured woman told investigators she was making a left turn when she collided with a gray Nissan Rogue. Multiple witnesses reported seeing the driver of that Nissan get out of the vehicle and flee on foot rather than stay at the scene. One witness said the driver approached him and asked him to order an Uber, and Kayyali got into that rideshare and left before officers arrived.
Police Track Down the Driver
Miami police eventually located and detained Kayyali in connection with the crash, the outlet's report states. He was booked into jail on the two charges, and he was expected to appear in bond court Tuesday. Kayyali reportedly explained his decision to leave by saying he felt lightheaded and wanted to lie down, though that account has not resolved why he sought out a rideshare rather than waiting for help or notifying police himself.
Under Florida law, the two charges against Kayyali carry very different weight. Florida Statute § 316.061 classifies leaving the scene of a crash that results only in property damage as a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. Separately, Florida Statute § 322.34(2)(a) makes knowingly driving on a canceled, suspended, or revoked license a second-degree misdemeanor for a first offense, though prosecutors must establish the driver knew about the suspension for that charge to stick.
A High-Traffic Corner Known for Collisions
The stretch around Southwest 107th Avenue and Southwest 8th Street in Sweetwater has long been flagged as a high-density collision area, driven by heavy student, commercial, and commuter traffic near Florida International University, according to Rafaeli Law. Miami-Dade County as a whole leads every county in Florida in total crashes, recording more than 64,000 collisions in annual state tracking, per News 6 WKMG.
Statewide, hit-and-run crashes remain a persistent problem. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles recorded 104,273 hit-and-run crashes in 2023, with more than 83 percent involving property damage only rather than injuries. More recent tracking cited by Michles & Booth found 85,459 reported hit-and-run crashes across Florida in 2025, resulting in 159 fatalities and 18,107 injuries statewide.
Tougher Penalties for Injury Cases
Florida lawmakers moved to crack down on drivers who flee crash scenes with the 2014 passage of the Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act, named for a South Florida cyclist killed by a hit-and-run driver in 2012. The law stiffened criminal penalties and mandated driver's license revocations for motorists who leave the scene of a crash. Under Florida Statute § 322.28, a conviction for leaving the scene of a crash involving personal injury triggers a mandatory license revocation of at least three years, on top of any fines or jail time imposed.
Kayyali's case does not currently involve a personal-injury leaving-scene charge, based on the charges police have announced. As is standard for criminal traffic arrests in Miami-Dade County, he was processed through the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, and Florida court rules required that he receive a bond hearing before a judge within 24 hours of his arrest. It remains unclear whether prosecutors will seek to subpoena rideshare trip records as part of the case, or whether additional charges could surface once bond court proceedings move forward.
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