Syracuse men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim opened up about the fatal car crash that left a 51-year-old man dead in upstate New York earlier this year.
Boeheim spoke about the incident in an interview with Esquire magazine published Wednesday. He told the magazine it was dark outside when he fatally struck the man whose disabled car was blocking multiple lanes in Onondaga County. He said he didn’t see the car.
“I thought I was going to just go straight into the car, but I got around,” the legendary Syracuse coach told Esquire. “I actually made a move – because there was nobody in the road – to get past the car. As I’m going by, the guy steps out.”
Boeheim, who called the police to report the accident, was not charged in the crash. He said he also learned that he saved another person’s life in the entire process.
“I got a letter from a guy who said I saved his life because he was going too fast and he saw me and slowed down and was able to get off,” he said. “You know that you did everything you could and it just didn’t work and then somebody’s dead and it’s terrible. There’s no way to talk about it or explain about it.”
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Boeheim revealed he received hundreds of emails from others who have had the same thing happened to them.
“The crazy thing is, I’ve had 500 emails, minimum – perfectly serious – more than 500 emails from people that had the same thing happen to them,” he said. “The testimony, the inquest, or whatever — it’s hard. And it should be hard.”
Boeheim added: “It’s a miserable thing because a man was killed.”
The fatal crash occurred in February and hours after the Orange upset No. 18 Louisville, 69-49, at the Carrier Dome.
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The victim was later identified as 51-year-old Jorge Jimenez, according to WSYR.