Syracuse Coach Kills Pedestrian on Highway

Jim Boeheim cooperating with police after accident on interstate
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 21, 2019 10:05 AM CST
Syracuse Coach Leaves Game, Kills Pedestrian
Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, left, talks to an official during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Louisville in Syracuse, NY, on Wednesday.   (AP Photo/Nick Lisi)

Jim Boeheim led Syracuse University's men's basketball team to victory over the Louisville Cardinals Wednesday before his night took a horrible turn. The 74-year-old coach was driving home from the game around 11:20pm when he struck and killed a man who'd exited a vehicle that had crashed into a guardrail on New York's Interstate 690. Boeheim "noticed the disabled car and tried avoiding the vehicle, which was in the middle of the road," but struck Jorge Jimenez, 51, who was standing nearby with three others, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports via a police statement, which notes no tickets were issued.

Jimenez was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Boeheim proceeded to police headquarters, per WSYR. "Field sobriety and alco-sensor tests for both drivers were negative for any signs of impairment," police say. Boeheim, expected to issue a statement soon, was driving at an appropriate speed, Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick adds. Weather, however, may have played a role. Roads were icy in sections, with nearby Hancock airport recording "light freezing rain" at 11pm, per the Post-Standard. Police were reconstructing the scene on Thursday, per Yahoo. (More Jim Boeheim stories.)

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