ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — A Buffalo man is in custody, facing a felony charge for leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident outside the Buffalo Bills game Monday night.
Khairullah Hasein, 32, was arraigned in Orchard Park Town Court on Tuesday morning. He is accused of hitting a 65-year-old Rochester man with his car on Southwestern Boulevard near Stadium Drive at 8:19 Monday night, just as the Bills game was starting.
The defendant allegedly left the scene of the accident. Police found him three hours later, when they picked him up at his home in Buffalo.
The Rochester man was taken to ECMC, where he passed away.
When arguing for bail, Hasein’s appointed attorney said he might not have realized that he allegedly hit something, in part because it is so dark around the stadium at that time.
When officers arrived on scene, they found a male lying in the street. Witnesses told police the vehicle left the scene heading eastbound on Southwestern Boulevard.
One witness was able to get a license plate number and description of the vehicle as it fled the scene, according to investigators.
Southwestern Blvd. between Abbott Road and California Road was shut down for more than two hours while police reconstructed the accident for their investigation.
The defendant required a Burmese interpreter for his arraignment. During the course of the proceeding, he was identified as a husband and father of four young children, as well as full-time teacher at the Islamic school on Best Street in Buffalo. He is also a part-time delivery driver for Amazon.
District Attorney John Flynn later said that Hasein was on a delivery route with one of his children in the car at the time of the accident.
Hasein is a U.S. citizen who has lived in the country since 2007. He has moved back and forth between Buffalo and Indiana, where his car is registered.
Hasein's license and driving privileges were suspended. He will be back in court for a felony hearing Friday, November 17th.
Shortly after that accident, around 10pm, another male victim was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of Abbott Road and Milestrip Road. The victim is a 36-year-old man who was taken to ECMC by ambulance. The vehicle involved in the accident remained on scene and the driver cooperated with police. Investigators say the pedestrian crossed the street against the crosswalk sign and into the path of the vehicle, which had the right of way.