In the hours before dawn on Sunday, Mourning smashed his Porsche into a disabled car on a Miami Beach causeway, sending it rolling. Mourning got out of his car, went to check on the victim (he was not seriously injured) and drove home, where he called police and later returned to the scene in his wife's car. These are facts that are not in dispute. Now the man is suing Mourning, saying he acted negligently by failing to call the police at the accident scene.
Between 3 and 4 a.m., Mourning was returning to the mainland from Miami Beach, where Chris Bosh's wedding reception had been held at the Fontainebleu Hotel. Mourning, a good friend of Bosh as well as a Heat executive, was in attendance that night — though it's unclear what time the reception broke up.
William Candelario, a 21-year-old student, had just gotten into an accident on the Julia Tuttle Causeway, and his 2010 Audi had just come to a stop when it was t-boned by Mourning's blue Porsche.
"This is not a witch hunt," Candelario's lawyer, Spencer Aronfeld, said at a news conference on Wednesday announcing the suit. "We know that Alonzo Mourning is a respected and well-loved member of the community.
"But we have questions. One is, why did Mr. Mourning leave the scene of this accident? How and why did he leave the scene of the accident without calling fire-rescue or calling the police?
On Wednesday Mourning met with police, who have yet to charge anyone in the crash but hope to finish their investigation today. He also issued a statement:
"There was an accident that was a very unfortunate situation that we rolled up on," Mourning said. "The good thing about it was that nobody was hurt. I've been cooperating with all of the authorities necessary to get this thing resolved.
"There's so much speculation going on out there. It's very unfair to me. The truth will come out as we continue to gather all the facts and I speak to authorities."
Suit targets Alonzo Mourning, claiming he left crash victim too soon [South Florida Sun-Sentinel]
Alonzo Mourning Accused of Hit-and-Run Car Crash While Driving Porsche [Miami New Times]