TOLEDO, Ohio — A Lucas County Grand Jury indicted 36-year-old Hakim Niazi of Salt Lake City, Utah, on Tuesday for a fatal 2021 crash that left one man dead.
Niazi is charged with negligent vehicular manslaughter, a first-degree misdemeanor, for the incident. According to court documents, on Oct. 15, 2021 at approximately 4:13 p.m., Niazi was operating a semi tractor on I-75, merging on to I-475 east of the ProMedica Parkway exit in west Toledo.
Authorities said Niazi was negotiating a turn during rainy conditions while "using his cell phone to view a movie" when he veered left and overcorrected to the right, traveled down a grassy embankment and vaulted the semi into the air. The semi cab landed on top of a vehicle operated by 41-year-old Michael McCarter, crushing it.
First responders transported McCarter to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Niazi did not sustain any injuries in the accident.
The incident, which occurred at the interchange of two major highways, closed a portion of both roads for three hours.
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