Motorcyclist arrested in fatal shooting of bicyclist
Police arrested a motorcyclist whose confrontation with a fellow cyclist led to his fatal shooting on the Rickenbacker Causeway.
The motorcyclist, Kadel Pierdahita, was taken into custody Friday morning and charged with one count of murder in the second degree and one count of aggravated assault with a firearm With a Firearm for his involvement iaccording to Miami police. Details of the charges were not immediately known. Pierdahita’s attorney Sabino Jauregui did not immediately respond to messages for comment.
“This is another senseless shooting and in of all places, on our beautiful Rickenbacker Causeway, where an enjoyable early morning bike ride turned into something so tragic,” said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle in a statement Friday, adding that she was “bothered by the images” that she saw of the incident. “This gun violence will not be tolerated.”
The shooting happened about 6 a.m. Wednesday and temporarily shut down the eastbound lanes of the William M. Powell Bridge that carries traffic to Key Biscayne.
Piedrahita, 41, was taken into police custody the day of the shooting, but was eventually released as investigators tried to piece together what happened during the deadly confrontation.
The bicyclist, who was in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, died later Wednesday at the hospital, police announced shortly before 5 p.m.
Though police haven’t released his name, friends and fellow riders told reporters he is Alex Palencia, a 49-year-old general claims insurance agent and father of two.
His Facebook account features several photos of the Cuban-American donning his cycling gear and smiling as he rode his bike around Key Biscayne and greater Miami alone and in group rides. Friends and associates have been leaving their condolences under his last Facebook post dated Aug. 12 when he promoted his business AP Insurance Agency.
“He loved his kids,” his ex-wife Iris Kennedy told WPLG-Ch. 10 Thursday. “He was easygoing, not (a) violent person ever. He never got into a fight. I mean, I’ve known him since 1995 when he moved here from Cuba. Never seen him in a fight, never.”