The owner of a sport utility vehicle driven the wrong way down a Florida interstate says there was nothing he could have done to stop a fiery crash that killed five people.
Scott Enfinger of Tampa told reporters Friday that he has received threats on social media since the crash early Sunday that killed Enfinger's friend Daniel Lee Morris and four University of South Florida fraternity brothers.
Authorities say Morris was observed just after 2 a.m. Sunday speeding the wrong way down Interstate 275. A few minutes later, Morris crashed head-on into a car carrying the four fraternity brothers.
The fire was so intense that it took Florida Highway Patrol days to identify Morris' body.
Hours earlier, Morris had been at a barbecue at Enfinger's home. Enfinger said that as the party continued into early Sunday, Morris went inside the home and then drove out of the driveway in Enfinger's Ford Expedition, which he took without asking.
Enfinger said he ran barefoot after Morris when he saw his SUV speeding away, then turned around and urged the other partygoers to call the police.
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Morris had had a few mixed drinks but he had not been acting strangely until he suddenly left, Enfinger said.
"There is nothing I could do to stop this," Enfinger said. "If I could, I would have moved heaven and earth. Unfortunately, I had no way of seeing this one."
Morris had recently returned to Florida from Michigan, and he had planned to join Enfinger in looking for work at Port Manatee.
Enfinger said the threats he's received on social media prompted him to leave his home with his fiancee and their children for several days.
"There's just a wide variety of threats, as far as college students wanting to retaliate. Somebody even mentioned firebombing houses and things," Enfinger said.
The fraternity brothers killed in the crash were Jobin Kuriakose, Ankeet Patel, Dammie Yesudhas and Imtiyaz "Jim" Ilias. Enfinger offered his "deepest, heart-felt condolences" to their families.
