DEWEY BEACH, Del. - The Delaware Department of Justice confirmed to CoastTV News that prosecutors are investigating, to see if criminal charges should be filed against a Lyft driver who kicked Sidney Wolf and his friends out of her car in July 2022.Â
According to new information in court documents obtained by CoastTV news on Tuesday, Sidney Wolf and his friends called a Lyft to pick them up from the Starboard on Coastal Highway in Dewey Beach to be dropped off in Bethany Beach.
When Wolf was kicked out of his rideshare into oncoming traffic he was struck and killed by another car. 43-year-old Wolf of Clarksburg, Md. was a former staffer for former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Court documents allege that driver Laquise Leon had a child in the trunk of the SUV. Documents state Leon started yelling at the passengers when they asked the child questions, concerned about the young child's safety. On a dark stretch of Coastal Highway, Leon allegedly stopped in the left lane and forced passengers to get out of the car, denying their requests to be dropped off in a safer spot.
"They couldn't exit the vehicle from the driver's side rear door because that door was not operative, so they were forced to leave the car into a lane of traffic," says attorney Shanin Specter.
Specter says Sidney Wolf was the first person to get out and was immediately struck and killed before Leon drove away. It's important to note, the driver who hit Wolf is not being sued.
Attorneys for Wolf call the deadly accident a "disgrace." The civil lawsuit seeks financial compensation for the Wolf family, stating that his wife, Lindsey Wolf, and two daughters incurred pain, suffering, mental anguish, emotional anguish and other injuries and damages.
Co-Founder at Kline & Specter Shanin Specter says legally they can't ask for the Lyft driver to be fired or for Lyft to lose its license. As new information about this case becomes public, Specter says they're hopeful criminal charges will follow.
Specter says the hope is also for the lawsuit to set an example for lyft to reform it's safety and driver requirements.
According to Lyft's website, criminal background checks are required for drivers and vehicles must have 5 to 8 seatbelts and 4 doors.