Criminal Defense and Car Accident Lawyer for Little Havana

Criminal defense in Little Havana

Because Little Havana belongs to the City of Miami, the local department is Miami Police, whose headquarters is at 400 NW 2nd Avenue. The department also lists a South Station at 2200 West Flagler Street, 33135, and the Florida Atlantic University study places the northern edge of the neighborhood core at West Flagler Street. Its non-emergency line is 305-579-6111. Whoever made the arrest is named on the report, and it is worth reading that line first.

People charged here often face DUI, drug, theft, battery and license charges, plus the occasional felony. Many families on these blocks speak Spanish at home, and so do we. You do not have to translate your worst day into your second language.

Jurors in Miami-Dade state court report to one of two courthouses: civil jurors to the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center, 20 NW 1st Avenue, and criminal jurors to the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building, 1351 NW 12th Street. Jury trials are held at those two buildings. The branch courthouses hold hearings and bench (non-jury) trials.

Closest branch courthouse

The closest branch courthouse to Little Havana is the Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center. Details are below. Courts move calendars, so confirm before you go.

Getting to the main courthouses

Five main courthouses handle most Miami-Dade cases. Each card has the court’s address, a Google Maps link that starts from this place, and what the court itself publishes about transit and parking. Tolls apply on several routes.

Miami-Dade courthouse guide: locations, hours and holidays

Police in Little Havana

For an emergency, call 911.

Nearby emergency services

In an emergency, call 911.

These are the closest to the center of Little Havana, measured in a straight line, as listed by official sources on October 27, 2026.

Listed for convenience, not as a ranking or a recommendation. Confirm hours and phone numbers before you go.

Your County Commissioner

This place spans more than one County Commission district. Which one applies depends on the exact address. County Commission page: district maps and offices

This is correct as of November 1, 2026.

History

Before it was Little Havana, the area was a lower-middle-class Southern neighborhood with a thriving Jewish community in the 1930s. The nickname came in the 1960s, when a vast influx of Cuban refugees began settling in the Shenandoah and Riverside neighborhoods, and it grew into the name for the whole area west of Downtown Miami, stretching west from the Miami River.

Most newcomers expected a short stay. In the 1960s the number of Cubans fleeing the Castro regime turned the area into a hotbed of counter-revolutionary activity, and residents hoped Castro would be deposed. By 1970 the neighborhood was more than 85% Cuban, and many families who later moved on across Miami still treated Little Havana as the place to land first.

Today the neighborhood is much more mixed. Hispanics from Nicaragua, Honduras and other Central American countries have increased substantially since the late 1990s, though most businesses are still Cuban-owned. The Florida Atlantic University study places the core between SW 4th Avenue and SW 27th Avenue, and between West Flagler Street and SW 9th Street.

Landmarks tell the rest. Máximo Gómez Park, better known as Domino Park, is famous for the players who meet daily. The Tower Theater is an Art Deco building at 1508 SW 8th Street. A Bay of Pigs Museum and Library is part of the neighborhood's institutions. Along the Miami River, the South River Drive Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987.

The first 24 hours after an arrest

The clock that matters is 24 hours: Florida requires that a person who has been arrested appear before a judge within that time, personally or by audio-video link, if he or she has not already been lawfully released. See Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.130(a).

Families can reach Miami Police at 305-579-6111, check the county jail roster on our inmate search page, and then call us. Have the full legal name and date of birth in hand.

Your first day after an arrest

1. Say your name and that you want a lawyer. Do not explain or argue on the street.
2. Politely refuse any request to look through your car, phone or apartment.
3. Write down which officers, which corner and which witnesses, while you remember.
4. Relatives: find out where the person is held before calling us. We answer all night.
5. A noncitizen should say so to the lawyer first. Even a quick plea can follow a person into an immigration case.

Where your case is heard

The nearest branch court by map is the Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center, 175 N.W. 1st Avenue, Miami, Florida 33128, downtown \1 It is not on the court's list of County Criminal locations; criminal and traffic cases in this part of the county are based at the Gerstein Justice Building, though a case can be set elsewhere, so check your paperwork. The court lists 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, limited parking, and Metro Bus or Metrorail to Government Center station. It does not say which kinds of cases are heard there, so your paperwork controls.

Felonies are heard by the Circuit Criminal Division at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building, 1351 N.W. 12th Street, Miami, Florida 33125. Federal criminal matters are heard in the downtown federal buildings listed below.

Lawson E. Thomas Courthouse Center (court guide)

Car accidents in Little Havana

A crash on a Little Havana street is normally worked by Miami Police. Ask the officer for the agency name and report number, then photograph the vehicles, the street and any marks on your body.

UHealth Tower (1400 NW 12th Ave) and Jackson Memorial Hospital (1611 N.W. 12th Avenue) both list round-the-clock emergency care. For something less serious, UHealth Jackson Urgent Care, 3737 S.W. 8th Street, is on the same street Calle Ocho runs along, farther west, and is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Injury claims from Little Havana crashes are part of what we do, head and brain injuries included. Wait on any recorded statement to an insurance adjuster until you have spoken with a lawyer.

Local roads and landmarks

Calle Ocho is SW 8th Street, and the Viernes Culturales fair runs on it between 14th and 17th Avenues on the last Friday of each month. That makes SW 8th Street an easy landmark to give a driver.

The Tower Theater sits at 1508 SW 8th Street, and the neighborhood's western edge is SW 27th Avenue, according to the university study. Metrorail serves the Civic Center / Jackson Memorial Hospital area, per Miami-Dade Transit.

Getting to us

There is no Little Havana office. Our one office is at 11401 SW 40 St, Suite 250, in University Park / Westchester. We do not publish a drive time because it depends on the hour.

You can start from home: call or message us on WhatsApp, in Spanish or English, at any hour.

Questions people ask about Little Havana

Is Little Havana its own city?

No. It is a neighborhood of the City of Miami, so Miami Police is the local department and City of Miami ordinances apply.

Which police station is closest?

Miami Police lists a South Station at 2200 West Flagler Street. The department's headquarters is at 400 NW 2nd Avenue. The arrest report shows who actually made the arrest.

Where do I go for an emergency room?

UHealth Tower at 1400 NW 12th Ave and Jackson Memorial Hospital at 1611 N.W. 12th Avenue both list 24-hour emergency care. Call 911 in an emergency.

Which courthouse will hear my case?

Felonies are at the Gerstein Justice Building. For other cases, your paperwork shows where the hearing is set. Confirm with the court.

My cousin was arrested in Little Havana. What now?

Find where the person is held, using Miami Police or the jail search on our site, and call us. A judge must see the person within 24 hours of arrest unless already released.

Do you have an office in Little Havana?

No. Our single office is in University Park / Westchester, and we still take Little Havana arrests and injury cases.

Where to go next

Our work

• Drug charges
• Domestic violence charges
• Immigration consequences of a plea
• Personal injury and car accidents
• Traumatic brain injury

Local guides

• Bond hearings
• Find someone in jail
• Florida DUI arrest: the 10-day license deadline
• Courthouse guide

Nearby areas we serve

• City of Miami
• West Miami
• Coral Gables