Dwayne Haskins drugged before he was hit by truck in South Florida, family says in lawsuit
Dwayne Haskins was drugged and robbed before the NFL quarterback was fatally hit by a truck in Broward County a year ago, his family claims in a lawsuit.
Haskins died when a dump truck struck him on Interstate 595 during the early morning hours of April 9, 2022, after the 24-year-old’s rented vehicle ran out of gas, according to authorities.
Before his death, the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback had been out drinking “heavily” and had a significant amount of alcohol in his blood, according to reports from the Broward Medical Examiner’s Office, which ruled his death accidental due to blunt force trauma.
But that narrative doesn’t depict the entire story, his widow Kalabrya Haskins and his parents, Dwayne and Tamara Haskins, assert in a wrongful death complaint filed March 23 in Broward.
READ MORE: Steelers QB Dwayne Haskins dies after getting hit by a truck in South Florida. He was 24
Attorney Rick Ellsley of The Ellsley Law Firm, which represents Haskins’ family, said in a statement provided to the Miami Herald on Monday night that “it is believed that Dwayne was targeted and drugged as part of a blackmail and robbery conspiracy.”
Haskins’ family accuses four people of drugging him in order to blackmail and rob him of a “highly-expensive watch” — contributing to his death. These defendants are Joe Smith of Hillsborough County, Meriem Yassine of Miami-Dade County, Wissal Yassine of Palm Beach County and Karlee Peyton, a resident of Iowa.
The family alleges a series of incidents unfolded in the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Boca Raton, a golf driving range called Drive Shack in Palm Beach County, the Blue Anchor Pub in Delray Beach and the E11even nightclub in downtown Miami.
The operators of these establishments are among more than a dozen defendants identified in the lawsuit.
Truck driver, car rental company and FDOT also targeted in lawsuit
Other defendants named in the civil complaint are truck driver Oriel Patino, truck owner Pedro Sinecio Diaz, ACE Rent a Car in Miami, the Florida Department of Transportation and an unnamed FDOT contractor. According to the lawsuit, they all played a factor in Haskins’ death — from not properly maintaining their vehicles to obstructing the clear view of the people driving on I-595.
Pedro Sinecio Diaz, who owns the truck that smashed into Haskins, told the Herald on Tuesday that he wasn’t aware that a lawsuit had been filed against him. He said his truck had passed inspection prior to the crash and that Patino was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs the night of the tragedy.
“This has affected me as well,” Sinecio Diaz said in Spanish.
FDOT declined to comment Tuesday.
The Herald was unable to contact the rest of the defendants as of Tuesday afternoon.
“The filing of this lawsuit is an important step in the process of uncovering the complete truth about this tragedy,” Ellsley said.
