The driver who ran over cab driver Mohamed Elwaleed after an early Tuesday morning argument was arrested in Pennsylvania yesterday. Luis Flores, 24, told authorities he didn't mean to kill the cab driver, and authorities believe him.
Flores, while driving his cousin's Nissan Altima, had apparently gotten into an accident with Elwaleed, a 44-year-old Sudanese immigrant. Elwaleed followed Flores for a few blocks, in hopes of trading insurance information. At Madison Avenue and East 65th in Manhattan, Elwaleed got out of his cab and approached Flores. Flores' godfather William Ales said that his godson panicked because "he did not know what [Elwaleed] could have been carrying," trying to swerve away from Elwaleed but ended up driving over him. Flores and his female passenger abandoned the car at the intersection and fled on foot.
Flores left New York and the police tracked him down to East Whiteland Township, Pennsylvania. He was transported back to the city last night and will face charges of manslaughter, assault and leaving the scene of a fatal accident. Elwaleed's wife and two young sons are getting ready for his funeral in Sudan. Friends and family say that his widow still believes he will walk back through the door.
