Miami Beach Hotel Owner Says More Than Curfew Needed To Curb Late Night Spring Break Violence
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Miami Beach is trying to put the brakes on rowdy late-night spring break behavior by instituting a new curfew that begins Thursday and lasts through the weekend.
The executive order calls for a curfew that goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. each night and lasts until 6 a.m. through Monday morning. The curfew will be in effect for 23rd Street to Southpoint Drive from the ocean to the bay.
"I've had two cancellations in the last 48 hours which is unfortunate," said Mitch Novick, owner of the Sherbrooke Hotel.
Novick said he's losing customers due to the curfew. He said he understands the need for one but feels a more permanent solution should come down to changing how Miami Beach's entertainment district does business, including rolling back alcohol sale hours.
On Monday, Mayor Dan Gelber declared a state of emergency and announced the new curfew after a wild spring break weekend in which five people were hurt in two separate shootings.
"What we're watching, and what we're feeling, and what we're observing is simply unacceptable at every level. So today, in a few moments, our city manager is signing an executive order," Gelber said during a press conference.
Early Monday morning, two women were injured in a shooting on Ocean Drive and 7th Street, near the Avalon Hotel. One had non-life threatening injuries, the other was grazed by a bullet.
One person was arrested.
Miami Beach police said Derrick Mitchell, 19, was charged with carrying a concealed firearm and tampering with evidence. Officers reportedly observed him running with a gun and then throwing it in some bushes when he was told to stop. He told police he only fired his gun because someone shot at him first, according to the arrest report. Surveillance video backed up that claim. It showed him pulling a gun and firing five rounds after someone shot at him.
The primary gunman remains at large.
Another shooting happened Sunday around midnight near 8th Street and Ocean Drive.
According to Miami Beach police, two of the people shot were taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A third victim showed up at Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound, also non-life-threatening.
Surveillance video showed the moments after the shooting when hundreds of people ran away from the scene. And then moments later, the large crowds ran back, creating a situation Gelber said has become way too common.
"No community, no police force, should have to suffer through this. You know I'm really tired of it, frankly, I'd love to get rid of spring break. I wish the spring breakers would go somewhere else," he said.
City Manager Alina Hudak says she too is fed up with the large crowds that flock to the beach for spring break and the violence that comes with it.
"My first priority as the city manager of Miami Beach is to provide for public safety," she said. "We had two random shootings of innocent bystanders this weekend. Even with all of our planning and our efforts and all of the resources we have dedicated and prepared for, including an additional 80 officers from Miami-Dade police, a 30-member multi-agency task force, we had these horrific events this weekend."
Gelber said the city's commission will hold a special meeting this week to determine if the curfew needs to be extended beyond this weekend.
