New York man hails cab after 'abandoning woman trapped in his burning car'
The driver has been charged with manslaughter in the deadly accident
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Your support makes all the difference.A man has been caught on video fleeing the scene of a fiery car accident, and – according to police – leaving a 25-year old woman to burn to death inside.
The video, taken by another driver on the crowded New York expressway, shows a man casually hailing a cab as flames engulf the car behind him.
“Can I get a ride?” the man asks the cab driver, and then hops inside.
Police have identified the man as the driver of the car: 23-year-old Saeed Ahmad. Police say he crashed his 2007 Infiniti into a concrete barrier on Friday night, spinning it around and engulfing it in flames. His young, female passenger remained inside.
Firefighters pulled the body of 25-year-old Harleen Grewal from the wreckage of the car that night. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Ms Grewal worked for a catering company, and often had co-workers drive her home when she worked late, her family told the New York Daily News.
Her boyfriend, Karan Dhillon, called her the love of his life.
"She would be positive to everyone, sometimes for no reason at all," Mr Dhillon told Eye Witness News. "Like this guy, I don't know if she trusted him, you know? You know she trusted someone to drop her home, or whatever the case was."
Police caught up with Mr Ahmad at nearby Maimonides Medical Center, where he was being treated for burns to his neck, arms and legs. He was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, leaving the scene of an accident, aggravated unlicensed operator, and speeding.
But Mr Ahmad’s brother said the young man had actually tried to save Ms Grewal.
“He said the girl that was in the car was stuck in there and he tried to get her out, that’s why his arms were burned,” Waheed Ahmad told the Daily News. “He couldn't ... it was too late for her.”
It is unclear whether Mr Ahmad has entered a plea.
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