Police said the Audi sideswiped another car before plowing into an Arona Home Essentials showroom along Northwest Seventh Avenue.
NORTH MIAMI, FL — A child was hurt after an Audi crashed into a North Miami business early Friday, police said, after the driver made an unsafe lane change, sideswiped another vehicle and then slammed through the front of a home furnishings store on Northwest Seventh Avenue.
The wreck sent one child from the Audi to a hospital, heavily damaged the Arona Home Essentials store and left investigators sorting through a fast-moving chain of events on a busy commercial stretch of road. The crash happened around 6:15 a.m., during the morning commute, and shut down part of the area while crews worked to clear the scene. By later Friday, police said the Audi driver had been cited for careless driving, though officials had released few other details about the people inside the SUV.
Police said the Audi was leaving a Burger King along Northwest Seventh Avenue when the driver changed lanes unsafely and struck a gray Dodge. Investigators said the Dodge was sideswiped, then went off course and hit a tree, while the Audi kept moving and crashed through the front window of Arona Home Essentials at 12550 NW Seventh Ave., near Northwest 126th Street. There were three people inside the Audi, according to police. The force of the impact carried the SUV into the showroom, leaving debris scattered inside and outside the business. “I got sideswiped by a car coming out of the Burger King,” the Dodge driver said in television interviews. “It took me by surprise.”
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said the injured child was taken to a hospital with what officials described as a minor, non-life-threatening injury. Local 10 reported the child was transported to Jackson North Medical Center with arm pain. Authorities said no other injuries were officially confirmed by rescue crews, though the Dodge driver said he was left sore after the crash. He said the impact sent him into a pole and then a tree, damaging his forehead, neck and thumb. He also said his car was badly damaged and likely totaled. One local report said the Dodge driver was 23. Another account from the driver said a bystander may have hurt a knee during the chaos, but police and fire officials did not publicly confirm that injury Friday. Officials also did not release the child’s age or say where each passenger in the Audi had been sitting.
The crash tore open the front of a business better known for furniture and home essentials than emergency response tape. Video from the scene showed the white Audi lodged deep inside the store while workers, officers and tow crews moved around broken glass, damaged displays and pieces of exterior wall. The address sits on a corridor lined with fast-food restaurants, small businesses and regular commuter traffic, a setting where even a brief loss of control can cause damage beyond the roadway. By midmorning, part of the street around Northwest 126th Street and Seventh Avenue had been blocked while officers investigated and a tow truck maneuvered the SUV out of the building. One report said the Audi remained inside for close to two hours before it was removed. Traffic later reopened, but cleanup at the store was expected to continue after the road was cleared.
What remains unclear is why the Audi driver made the lane change that police called unsafe and whether distraction, speed or some other factor played a role. Authorities had not publicly identified the driver or the passengers by Friday, and they had not said whether impairment testing was part of the investigation. Police also had not released an estimate of the cost of the property damage or said when the store might reopen. By later Friday, North Miami police said the driver had been cited for careless driving, signaling that officers had reached at least an initial conclusion about fault even as the broader crash investigation continued. No more serious charges were announced Friday. The next steps are likely to include a full crash report, insurance reviews, damage assessment at the business and any additional findings from investigators if new evidence emerges.
For the people caught in the collision, the aftermath was less about traffic law than the shock of a routine morning turning violent in seconds. The Dodge driver said he had been on his way to work when the Audi cut across his path. “I don’t know what to feel right now,” he said. “It’s kinda big for me.” In another interview, he said he was relieved that he was not more seriously hurt but worried about his car because he had just paid it off. Inside the store, the scene showed the kind of disruption that follows when a crash leaves the street and enters a workplace: torn storefront glass, displaced merchandise and workers left to measure the damage after emergency crews leave. By Friday afternoon, the vehicles had been removed, but the building still showed the force of the impact and the mess of a crash that started in the roadway and ended in the middle of a showroom.
As of Friday evening, the child’s injury was reported as minor, the Audi driver had received a careless driving citation and police had not announced any further action. The next public milestone is the release of a fuller crash report or any additional statement from North Miami police about the investigation.
Author note: Last updated April 18, 2026.