- The Washington Times - Monday, May 23, 2022

Former Washington and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Dwayne Haskins’ blood-alcohol level was well above the legal limit when he was hit by a dump truck on a Florida interstate in April, according to a toxicology report released by the Broward County Medical Examiner on Monday.

Two blood samples collected after Haskins’ death revealed alcohol levels of .20 and .24, according to the medical examiner’s report. The legal limit in Florida is .08. The Miami Herald was first to report the news on Monday afternoon.

The toxicology report also revealed that Haskins tested positive for ketamine and norketamine, but the medical examiner did not provide an explanation for why those drugs were in his system. 

Haskins’ cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries, and the manner of his death was an accident, according to the medical examiner. 

The 24-year-old former Washington quarterback was in Florida that weekend to train with his Steelers teammates. A Steelers official told the medical examiner’s office that Haskins went out to dinner and then went to a nightclub with a cousin or friend the night before his death on April 9. 

“They drank heavily and at some point, they got into a fight, separating,” the report stated.

According to Florida Highway Patrol, Haskins was hit by a dump truck at 6:37 a.m. when he was trying to cross the westbound lanes of Interstate 595 and was reported dead at the scene.

The investigation officer in the medical examiner’s report determined that the driver of the dump truck was not at fault and that Haskins was improperly in the roadway. 

Two weeks after his death, multiple 911 calls were reported by Miami-based Fox Sports reporter Andy Slater. The first was from Haskins’ wife back in Pittsburgh, who said the quarterback was walking along the highway because his car ran out of gas. The other was from a witness who said she saw Haskins get hit by the dump truck. 

“He was stuck on the side of the highway. He had to go walk and get gas, and then he said he’d return to his car on the highway,” Kalabrya, Haskins’ wife, told the 911 operator in Pittsburgh. “We were on the phone and he said he’d call me back. But I kept calling and kept calling. He wasn’t answering. Eventually, after 10 minutes of calling the phone, eventually it cut off. It’s not working now. I had his location. I just want somebody to go in the area and see if his car is there and if he’s OK and if anything happened to him.”

According to the medical examiner, a “female companion” — relationship to Haskins unknown — was in the vehicle on the side of the interstate and told the Florida Highway Patrol that Haskins left the car to get gas. 

• Jacob Calvin Meyer can be reached at jmeyer@washingtontimes.com.

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