Man Hailed Cab While Date Burned Alive On BQE: Police

GOWANUS, BROOKLYN — The driver who police say fled the scene after crashing his car on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, leaving a young woman sitting in the front-seat to die, allegedly hailed a cab in the middle of the highway as the woman burned.

Saeed Ahmad, a 23-year-old from Flatlands, faces a number of charges in connection with the crash, according to police. The victim was identified by police as 25-year-old Astoria resident Harleen Grewel.

Ahmad was driving westbound on the BQE, near Centre Street in the Red Hook-Carroll Gardens area early Friday morning when he slammed into a concrete barrier, police said. The 2007 Infiniti G35 sedan caught fire, and Ahmad fled the scene, according to police.

Exclusive footage obtained by ABC-7 New York apparently shows Ahmad getting into a yellow cab on the highway as the car is seen burning in the background. The young woman left to die was believed to be his date, according to the ABC report. The New York Daily News reported that Ahmad told police he was dating Grewel but friends say she was just an acquaintance and he was giving her a ride home.

"Can I get a ride?" he asks.

An NYPD spokeswoman confirmed to Patch that Ahmad hailed a cab, which took him to Maimonides Medical Center where police found him.

Ahmad's brother, 21-year-old Waheed Ahmad, told The Daily News that his brother was actually trying to help the victim.

He was found suffering burns to his body at the hospital, police said, and was arrested. He has been charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, leaving the scene of an accident, aggravated unlicensed operator and a speed violation.

Marc Torrence contributed reporting.

Image via Joshua Longmore, Twitter used with permission