New video shows ex-chef fleeing Aventura crashes as deadly hit-and-run past resurfaces

AVENTURA, Fla. — New video obtained exclusively by Local 10 News on Thursday shows the moments after authorities say a driver accused of causing multiple crashes in Aventura allegedly sped away earlier this month, leaving shaken motorists behind and reviving questions about his history behind the wheel.

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The video captures the black SUV pulling away as people step out of their damaged vehicles, looking around in disbelief after the collisions.

According to Aventura police, the driver didn’t stop after the first crash.

Investigators said the driver, who they identified as 65-year-old Jonathan Eismann of Miami Beach, once a well-known chef in South Florida, was behind the wheel of a black 2020 Ford Escape when he struck a red BMW, pushing it into the rear of a GMC on Biscayne Boulevard just before 4:30 p.m. on July 13.

Police said Eismann then continued south, and as he approached the Northeast 203rd Street intersection, drove onto the center median to get around stopped traffic before sideswiping a Nissan Rogue carrying two people.

The newly obtained video shows part of that second crash and the driver continuing away from the scene as motorists react to what had just happened.

According to the arrest report, the victims followed Eismann to Aventura Mall, where officers took him into custody.

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Police said both victims suffered minor injuries, and Eismann was arrested on two felony charges of leaving the scene of a crash involving injury.

The arrest has drawn renewed attention because it is not the first time Eismann has faced allegations of fleeing a crash.

In 2012, investigators said Eismann was fleeing another collision when he lost control of his vehicle, jumped a curb in west Miami-Dade struck 29-year-old Jean Carlos Ruiz, a husband and father who was killed in that crash while waiting at a bus stop on his way to work.

Seven years later, Eismann pleaded guilty to careless driving involving death and leaving the scene of a crash involving injury as part of a plea agreement. He was sentenced to one year of probation and lost his driver’s license, avoiding prison.

Now, years after that deadly case, Eismann is once again accused of leaving crash scenes—this time after police say he caused two collisions within minutes before victims tracked him down and officers arrested him at Aventura Mall.

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