Civil lawsuit alleging ‘blackmail and robbery conspiracy’ filed a year after Dwayne Haskins’ death
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Attorneys who filed a civil lawsuit in the death of former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins claim he was “targeted and drugged” and the victim of a “blackmail and robbery conspiracy” before he was struck and killed by a dump truck while crossing on foot a Florida interstate in April 2022.
The suit, filed in Florida last month by personal injury attorney Eric Ellsley on behalf of Haskins’ widow, Kalabrya, came to light Monday, the day after the one-year anniversary of Haskins’ death. It contends that the dump truck driver did not exercise proper caution before Haskins was struck on I-595 in Broward County near the Fort Lauderdale airport.
In addition to the driver and company that owned the 1994 Kenworth dump truck, the lawsuit lists four individuals, two restaurants, a golf driving range, a hotel and Florida Department of Transportation as defendants connected to the events before Haskins’ death.
It was filed March 23, citing negligence by the parties involved in the wrongful death case and requests a jury trial.
Haskins, 24, was walking along the interstate in search of gas after his rental car — a 2020 Nissan Frontier, according to the suit — had become disabled. His death was ruled an accident, according to the autopsy report released last May.
According to the lawsuit, the Nissan Frontier was “mechanically damaged,” which caused it to run out of gas alongside the interstate.
The toxicology report revealed that Haskins tested positive for alcohol, registering .20 on one test and .24 on another. Florida’s legal limit is .08. Haskins also tested positive for ketamine and norketamine.
In a statement released Monday by attorney Rick Ellsley, he maintains Haskins “was only a few feet away from making it safely across the roadway” when he was struck and killed by the dump truck. The suit claims the driver was “going faster than the speed limit, carrying excessive cargo, had brake system problems and was traveling on low tread tires with separated sidewalls.”
In the darkness of the early-morning hours, the lawsuit claims “tail lights, brake lights and hazard flashers” from other cars directly in front of or behind the dump truck — as well as from traffic on the oncoming lanes — “illuminated Dwayne” as the dump truck approached.
Related:
• April 9, 2022: Steelers QB Dwayne Haskins dies after being struck on Florida highway
• April 9, 2022: Dwayne Haskins is latest Pittsburgh athlete to die during playing career
• May 23, 2022: Report: Steelers QB Dwayne Haskins intoxicated when struck, killed in April
The suit contends that the dump truck driver’s cell phone records have yet to be released and that the driver did not provide a blood sample to police at the scene, while alcohol test results taken of the driver also have not been released.
Ellsley raises questions about the timeline before Haskins’ death, saying “it is believed” the quarterback was “targeted and drugged as part of a blackmail and robbery conspiracy.” Ellsley notes Haskins’ “highly expensive watch was stolen from him shortly before his death.”
The lawsuit claims negligence against the hotel, restaurants and golf driving range, establishments attended by Haskins in the hours before his death, because they allowed “patrons to use drugs and to drug other patrons,” including the quarterback.”
The four individuals named in the suit are accused of battery for “drugging” Haskins in attempt to “blackmail and rob him, causing him and/or contributing to cause him severe injury and death.”
Haskins was in Florida with several other Steelers teammates working out with quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who resides there in the offseason. The medical examiner’s report stated Haskins had been out at a club drinking prior to his death.
In his statement, Ellsley said the lawsuit is “an important step in the process of uncovering the complete truth about this tragedy.”