Boeheim strikes, kills pedestrian along interstate

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Longtime Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim struck and killed a man along an interstate late Wednesday night as he tried to avoid hitting the man's disabled vehicle, police said.

Syracuse police say 51year-old Jorge Jimenez was an occupant in a black Dodge Charger with three others when they apparently lost control on a patch of ice and hit a guardrail before midnight on I-690 in Syracuse.

Boeheim struck Jimenez with his GMC Acadia while trying to avoid the disabled car, which was resting perpendicular on the darkened highway. The group had been heading toward the median for safety.

Jimenez was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Another man in the group suffered minor injuries in the accident, police said.

“I am heartbroken that a member of our community died as the result of last night's accident,” Boeheim said in a prepared statement.

The 74-year- old Basketball Hall of Fame coach said he and his wife Juli “extend our deepest sympathies to t he Jimenez family.” Boeheim added that he would not comment further “out of respect for those involved.”

Police said Boeheim has been cooperating with the investigation. He even used his cellphone light to warn other drivers of the disabled car after the accident, police said.

“At this time wehave no reason to believe that there are criminal charges that will be coming for anyone,” Syracuse Police Chief Kenton T. Buckner said at a news conference.

Police said sobriety tests administered to Boeheim and the unidentified driver of the other vehicle were negative for any signs of impairment.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said he has known Boeheim for 40 years and that the coach does not drink.