Charges Pending in Crash That Killed University of Miami Student, Police Chief Says

Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hudak told the city commission today that "charges are pending" and under review by the state attorney's office in the scooter crash that killed a University of Miami student in Coral Gables last week.

On the morning of March 4, Daniel "Danny" Bishop — a senior majoring in mathematics and psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences — was riding his scooter to campus when he was hit by a car near South LeJeune Road and Altara Avenue. The driver, who has yet to be identified by police, remained at the scene of the crash, according to the Coral Gables Police Department.

While scant details have been released about the incident, Hudak indicated during the March 12 city commission meeting that the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's office is determining whether to pursue a case against the driver. He said that the traffic homicide unit is continuing to investigate the accident.

The police chief emphasized that Bishop obeyed traffic laws while riding his scooter in the moments leading up to the tragedy. Hudak said his department has seen a recent uptick in crosswalk accidents in Coral Gables, the latest of which happened this morning, when a city police department employee was hit by a vehicle while crossing the street next to the Coral Gables Police station.

"Without getting into the details of the investigation, charges are pending with the state attorney’s office," Hudak said of Bishop's incident. "But [it was] a similar situation, where the person on the scooter actually waited, we actually know that they waited, used the signalization. Whether somebody was not paying attention, we don't know that yet."

The chief stressed that the state attorney's office had final authority over the charging decision. He did not specify the nature of the potential traffic violations at play.

A native of Coral Springs, Bishop graduated from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School as the class salutatorian. He was a sophomore when an expelled student walked onto campus and killed 17 students and faculty on Valentine's Day in 2018. He went on to join a group of students who advocated for gun law reform in Tallahassee.

At the University of Miami, he was a member of the President's 100 organization, or "P100s," who serve as campus tour guides. He also ran his own math tutoring company, according to his LinkedIn profile. The University of Miami student newspaper, The Miami Hurricane, reports that Bishop was slated to teach math at Gulliver Preparatory School following graduation.

In the March 12 crosswalk accident in Coral Gables, the city employee was transported to the hospital this morning but did not sustain life-threatening injuries, Hudak said. He added that the driver also struck three of the city's fire rescue vehicles.

"This is about the third accident we've seen in the last week," the police chief said. "This is something we've been trying to address every year. I gotta say there's been an uptick again."