Harleen Grewel died in the car crash in Brooklyn on Friday morning
A New York City driver who police say fled his burning car leaving his friend behind to die, is now being hailed a hero by his brother.
‘He did not just run away from the scene. He lost his phone in the car [and was] unable to call the ambulance,’ Waheed Ahmad, 21, said about his brother Saeed Ahmad, 23 to the New York Post.
Saeed was arrested at a hospital where he was being treated for burns to his arms and legs following the crash in Brooklyn Friday after leaving his friend Harleen Grewel, 25, burning inside the passenger’s seat according to police.
‘He tried to get her out. That’s how his hands and his legs and his neck got burned. He couldn’t get her out. The fire got too crazy. It just burned so quick,’ said Ahmad’s brother.
It was in the early morning hours that Saeed crashed a 2007 Infiniti G35 sedan into a concrete barrier, he hailed a cab while leaving behind Grewel.
Saeed ‘was in pain’ and since ‘the ambulance wasn’t coming’ he asked the taxi to take him to Maimonides Hospital in Borough Park, his brother told the Post.
Saeed Ahmad faces charges including criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident
Footage captured at the scene shows a tailback forming as the burning car sits in the middle of the lane
Grewel was pronounced dead at the scene after her charred body was found in the front passenger seat by firefighters.
‘Everything is chaos right now. We are shocked. It’s horrifying for the girl and her family,’ said Waheed.
He added, ‘He’s emotionally distraught. Every time they ask him about what happened, he’s crying and screaming. His friend burned alive.’
Saeed was allegedly weaving in and out of traffic on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway before his 2007 Infiniti G35 hit a barrier.
Other motorists on the highway were forced to swerve to avoid crashing into the fireball before emergency services rushed to the scene at 4am.
Footage captured at the scene shows a tailback forming as the burning car sits in the middle of the lane.
Saeed admitted to police that he had been drinking alcohol before the crash but a subsequent blood test revealed he was not legally drunk.
He was charged with criminally negligent homicide, leaving the scene of an accident, aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and speeding.