Crime & Safety
Driver Runs From Burning Car On BQE While Passenger Dies: Police
The driver lost control of the car, and he ran away as it burst into flames, according to the NYPD.
GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — An out-of-control driver crashed his car on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway early Friday morning, then fled the scene after his car burst into flames, leaving his front-seat passenger to die, police said.
Saeed Ahmad, a 23-year-old from Flatlands, faces a number of charges in connection with the crash, according to police. The victim, 25-year-old Harleen Grewel, was from Astoria.
Ahmad was driving westbound on the BQE, near Centre Street in the Red Hook-Carroll Gardens area, around 4 a.m. when he slammed into a concrete barrier, police said.
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The 2007 Infiniti G35 sedan caught fire, and Ahman fled the scene, according to police. Dramatic video shows the car engulfed in bright orange flames on the major Brooklyn highway.
Shell of a car on fire heading south on the BQE...awful #FDNY #brooklyn #newyork pic.twitter.com/dsnNNQtbtp
— Joshua Longmore (@JBLongmore) October 13, 2017
TRAFFIC ALERT on the Eastbound #BQE (near ex 24) We managed to get by with one lane, shutdowns to come. @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/6jj21498I5
— Magdalena Doris (@MagdalenaDoris) October 13, 2017
After firefighters put out the flames, Grewel was found dead in the front seat, the FDNY said. Ahmad was found in a nearby hospital suffering burns to his body, police said, and was arrested.
Find out what's happening in Gowanus-Red Hookfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
He has been charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, leaving the scene of an accident, aggravated unlicensed operator and a speed violation
Image via Joshua Longmore, Twitter used with permission
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