A newly surfaced video exhibits the stomach-churning second that New York Jets cornerback Brandin Echols loses management of his Dodge Charger Hellcat at 84 mph and runs a hapless motorist off the street, sending the BMW airborne, hurtling over a guardrail and right into a area.
Stephen Gilberg, 51, of Livingston, N.J., claims he grew to become “partially paralyzed” following the April 26, 2022 accident, and is now suing Echols and the Jets.
The high-speed crash unfolded round 2 p.m. on Columbia Turnpike, close to Morristown Airport, simply minutes from the Jets’ observe facility in Florham Park, N.J.
Echols was suspended for one recreation in 2023 however the crew by no means publicly introduced it was for the rookie’s reckless, near-fatal driving.
The injured New Jersey man has stated the crash and accidents will “eternally hang-out me.”
Within the 10-second dash-cam clip obtained by The Publish, Echols, behind the wheel of the black 2021 Hellcat, may be seen making an attempt to cross Gilberg’s black 2018 BMW X5 on the left. The muscle automotive out of the blue veers proper and rams into the motive force’s aspect of the Beemer, propelling Gilberg’s SUV over the guardrail.
The BMW landed “the other way up in a marshy space,” the sufferer stated.
Gilberg remained trapped contained in the flipped BMW for an hour till emergency responders might minimize him out of the car, his legal professional stated.
The crash left him with damaged ribs and “no feeling or motion in each arms and his proper leg that required spinal surgical procedure,” in line with police studies.
Gilberg continues to obtain therapy for his accidents, he stated in courtroom papers.
Police stated an investigation discovered Echols was touring at a velocity of 84 mph — in a 50-mph zone — 5 seconds earlier than influence, police information present.
“The info recorder had him [at top speed] upwards of 111 mph,” charged Gilberg’s legal professional, Nicholas Leonardis.
Echols, who was alone, was not injured.
The Jets are accountable for the negligent acts of Echols, Gilberg stated within the Morris County Superior Courtroom lawsuit filed final month.
“New York Jets . . . didn’t train cheap care in hiring defendant, Echols, as one in all its gamers in that they did not conduct the right motorcar and/or felony historical past checks,” the swimsuit states.
Echols “has a historical past” of reckless driving and had a “distant managed license plate concealer” within the car, alleged Gilberg. Such concealers are often used to evade tolls and rushing and red-light cameras.
A verify of Echols’ Mississippi driving document revealed he had “4 situations of rushing violation convictions, with one for going 15 miles per hour over the restrict and a second for 20 miles per hour over the restrict,” in line with a police report.
The Jet additionally was issued a previous warning for flying down the identical turnpike in the identical sportscar, in line with the police report. In that occasion, Echols was stopped simply after midnight on Dec. 20, 2021 by a Florham Park cop, who recalled stopping the car “for touring 82 mph in a 50 mph zone.”
Echols, who has not admitted any guilt, was criminally charged with assault by auto final yr however “voluntarily” entered a three-year pretrial intervention program that would consequence within the cost being dismissed.
He obtained summonses for reckless driving, rushing, failure to put on a seat belt, unsafe lane change and improper passing. These too will reportedly be dismissed as soon as Echols completes the three-year necessities.
As for Gilberg, he was taken to Morristown Medical Heart following the crash and had two spinal surgical procedures and compiled medical payments of almost $1 million by March 2023, in line with the declare.
Echols has to pay Gilberg $1,200 monthly in “restitution” till the sufferer’s $54,460 “out of pocket” medical bills is reached, in accordance Leonardis.
“Whereas I’ve made sure strides bodily, equivalent to studying to stroll once more albeit not in the identical means I used to, it’s the nerve harm and the ache you don’t see,” Gilberg stated throughout a February 2023 courtroom listening to. “The bodily issues I’ll by no means have the ability to do and the psychological trauma I’m dwelling with each single day that may proceed to influence the remainder of my life.”
Gilberg and his spouse, Cheryl, are suing Echols, the Jets, the NJ state Division of Transportation and different entities, alleging assault by auto and negligence. The lawsuit contends DOT was “negligent within the design and installment of curbs and guardrails.”
“This can be a case of simply full disregard for the security of others on the roadway from a gentleman who has been pulled over prior to now for rushing on the town. A gentleman who has a tool that hides his license plate,” stated Gilberg’s legal professional, Leonardis.
Leonardis, who declined to make Gilberg out there for remark, stated, “You need to be held accountable on your conduct. And I haven’t seen something from any of the posts I’ve seen from Mr. Echols the place he’s expressed one phrase of regret. He’s by no means reached out to my consumer.”
Neither the Jets nor Echols’ legal professional returned messages looking for remark.
“Mr. Echols will not be alleged to have been driving underneath the affect of any substances and there are not any claims that Mr. Echols supposed to harm anybody,” his legal professional Mitch Schuster instructed the Each day File in March 2023. “Mr. Echols is deeply saddened that Mr. Gilberg suffered accidents because of the accident and needs Mr. Gilberg a full and speedy restoration.”
The swimsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Echols, who signed a 4-year, $3.6 million contract with the Jets, performed at Kentucky and was a sixth-round choose within the 2021 draft. In 2023, he appeared in 14 video games, had 18 tackles and had one interception for a landing.
To some followers, Echols is greatest recognized for asking Tom Brady to autograph a ball he intercepted off of him in a heartbreaking Jets loss to the Buccaneers in 2022.
