Man dies trying to help driver after crash

By ALEXANDRA ZAYAS, Times Staff Writer
Published October 29, 2007

BRANDON - A Riverview man was killed Sunday trying to help an injured driver in an early morning crash on Interstate 75.

Amir D. Sarhaddi, 29, had left his vehicle in the emergency lane when he was fatally struck in a four-car chain reaction, a Florida Highway Patrol release says.

Just after 3 a.m. Sunday, the southbound driver of an Infiniti failed to notice the car ahead of his, a Jeep, slow down. The Infiniti rear-ended the Jeep, and the Jeep overturned onto the grass median, striking a tree. The Infiniti came to a stop, blocking the lanes.

Sarhaddi got out of his car in the emergency lane to assist the injured. A Toyota truck pulled over, and its driver, 19-year-old Jared Cason, also got out to help.

But a third southbound car, a Saturn, failed to notice the Infiniti and Sarhaddi. The Saturn struck the Infiniti, veered to the left, struck Sarhaddi, then crashed into the Toyota truck, the release says.

Sarhaddi died. The driver of the Infiniti, James S. Braley, 36, suffered minor injuries, as did Perets E. Nisim, 22, who drove the Jeep. Saturn driver Jessica Paquette, 23, and Toyota truck driver Cason were not injured.

Charges are pending, authorites said.

[Last modified October 29, 2007, 00:04:22]