May 18, 2009 7:37 pm US/Eastern
Witness Corroborates LI Road Rage Accused's Story
Victim's Family Friends Say There Is No Way Ian Sharinn Could Have Or Would Have Started The Altercation
LONG BEACH, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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The 34-year-old driver of this yellow Porsche was killed in an apparent case of road rage in Long Beach on May 15, 2009.
CBS
On Long Island a sudden case of deadly road rage has led to finger-pointing over who the real victim is.
Friends, family and the attorney of road rage suspect Evan Potts told a judge that $5 million bond is far too high, that Potts panicked and even called 9-1-1 for help just before the fatality.
The victim's family is outraged by those claims.
Victim Ian Sharinn's family had just laid him to rest and were sitting shiva in their Lloyd Neck home, barely able to comprehend that their 34-year-old brother, an athletic, handsome, Stony Brook graduate engineer, was killed in the sudden road rage crime in downtown Long Beach.
"He's been my best friend for 20 years," Christopher Lindstrom said. "And I've never known him to throw a punch on someone. He's never looked for a fight and he was a gentle giant.
"Four hundred people went to this funeral."
The suspect Potts of Oceanside, a Queens College student, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, telling a judge he was dialing 9-1-1 for help, trying to get away from Sharinn, who had run a red light in his yellow Porsche boxing in Potts's Nissan Altima There was an angry exchange of words. Potts said he panicked when Sharinn exited his vehicle and pounded on his hood, that he tried to back up, but rolled over the victim.
"Went over him like a cat on the road," witness John Messina said. "
On Monday John Messina stood by what he told CBS 2 HD just after witnessing the road rage killing -- that the victim appeared to be the aggressor.
"If the kid had the car in reverse he probably would have smashed into the car behind him, just in the panic-frenzy that he was in. That's how I'm looking at it," Messina said.
On Monday in Long Beach friends of the victim said Sharinn had so much to live for.
"He and his girlfriend were about to get married. He was on his way to close on a house when this happened," Donahue said.
On Tuesday Potts' case will be formally moved from Long Beach to the Nassau Criminal courts. For now he is being held here on that $5 million bond.
Potts was arrested in 2007 on charges of possession of burglar tools and marijuana, resisting arrest, third degree criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. He pleaded guilty to some of those charges.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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