Just a short 18 months ago, chef Jonathan Eismann was one of the biggest names in Miami's restaurant scene with acclaimed eateries Pacific Time, Fin, Q, and Pizza Volante under his management. By last April, his enterprises began toppling: The restaurants folded, lawsuits piled up, and his Venetian Islands home went into foreclosure.
Now Eismann has bigger problems. The 51-year-old, while driving his SUV, struck and killed a pedestrian yesterday morning, Channel 10 reports, while fleeing an earlier crash.
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Around 8:45 Wednesday morning, Eismann was driving a Ford Explorer through the intersection of NW Third Street and 72nd Avenue when he collided with a Nissan Sentra, the station reports.
Police say Eismann then tried to flee from the crash and lost control of his SUV, plowing into 29-year-old Juan Carlos Ruiz, a pedestrian. Ruiz was pronounced dead on the scene, and Eismann was taken to a hospital.
As of this morning, no charges have been filed against Eismann, but the case is still open, Det. Alvaro Zabaleta tells Riptide.
Riptide tried the last number listed for Eismann to try to get a comment, but it has been disconnected.
Eismann's restaurant empire fell into trouble last year amid Miami's recession. As our Short Order blog reported last April, the chef faced multiple suits from food supplier Sysco related to his closed eateries, plus a mortgage foreclosure on his Venetian Isles home.
Yet court records show those cases have since been settled, with the foreclosure dismissed last month after his home at 423 E. Rivo Alto Dr. had sold in August for a solid profit at $3.2 million. The chef had been running Spartico, a pizzeria in the Mayfair Hotel.
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