Bob Simon not wearing seat belt during crash, cops say; driver may have had heart attack
Police say the livery cab — driven by Reshad Abdul Fehadi and carrying the 73-year-old ’60 Minutes’ correspondent — was traveling at a high rate of speed when it rear-ended a Mercedes-Benz driven by Zachary Miller on the West Side Highway. A man at Fehadi’s livery company said he may have suffered a heart attack during the trip.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Thursday, February 12, 2015, 8:29 AM
Updated: Thursday, February 12, 2015, 2:02 PM
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High speed and an inexperienced driver may have figured in the devastating crash that killed “60 Minutes” reporter Bob Simon — along with the fact that the newsman was not wearing a seat belt, police sources said Thursday.
The revelations came as CBS and Simon’s family were finalizing plans for the award-winning 73-year-old reporter’s funeral.
Meanwhile, there was a report that livery driver Reshad Abdul Fehadi suffered a heart attack before the crash.
JOHN PAUL FILO/CBSBob Simon, a correspondent for CBS’ ‘60 Minutes,’ died in a vehicle collision on Wednesday evening.
Police, however, have not confirmed that. And the Taxi and Limousine Commission has suspended Fehadi’s license while the wreck is being investigated.
Fehadi has a probationary license, meaning he had been on the job for less than a year, agency spokesman Greg Gordon said.
Simon, who won 27 Emmy Awards in a career spanning five decades, was on his way to a medical seminar in downtown Manhattan when Fehadi’s cab crashed, the newsman’s wife, Francoise, told police.
Based on the damage at the scene, investigators believe the Lincoln Town Car was traveling at a high rate of speed when it rear-ended a Mercedes-Benz on the West Side Highway at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, sources said.
No criminal charges have been filed against the 44-year-old driver, who rented his car from Travez Transportation Inc. in Long Island City.
“It’s my understanding that (Fehadi) had a heart attack, but that's all I know,” a man who answered the phone at the firm said.
The driver of the Benz was identified by sources as 23-year-old Zachary Miller of New Rochelle.
Investigators hope to learn more about the crash when they get access to a “black box” type device inside the Town Car that records information such as speed and direction when an impact occurs, according to police cameras.
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The crash was not captured on any surveillance cameras, cops said.
But according to the NYPD Collision Investigation squad's preliminary report, this much is known:
Both Fehadi and Miller were traveling south. Fehadi was in the left lane and Miller was in the center lane.
As they approached W. 30th St., Miller began slowing down.
Fehadi, for reasons still unclear, accelerated. And his front fender sideswiped the rear driver's side of the Benz.
FACEBOOKZachary Miller, of New Rochelle, was the driver of the Mercedes-Benz that was rear-ended by the black car carrying CBS correspondent Bob Simon.
The force of the impact sent Fehadi's car careening into a bollard, trapping Simon inside the car. The newsman, who suffered a massive head wound and was unconscious, had to be cut out of the mangled livery cab, sources said.
Simon was rushed to St. Luke’s Hospital, but doctors could not save him.
Fehadi suffered two broken legs and a broken arm and was taken to Bellevue Hospital.
His estranged wife, Shekiba Fehadi, said she had not been in contact with her husband for some time, but said her daughter had gotten a call that he had been involved in a wreck and taken to Bellevue.
Miller was not hurt, sources said.
Simon, a renowned war correspondent, had cheated death a number of times chasing stories in overseas conflicts, Jeff Fager, executive producer of “60 Minutes,” said earlier.
“It is such a tragedy made worse because we lost him in a car accident, a man who has escaped more difficult situations than almost any journalist in modern times,” Fager said. “Bob was a reporter’s reporter.”
