Yasser Salim, 23, of Durham, turned himself in to police on Wednesday at 5:20 p.m. as the driver of the car that caused the accident. The crash occurred at 1:26 a.m. Wednesday morning in the parking lot outside Cobb.
Salim received a citation for failing to remain at the scene of the crash. He was released after he was cited.
Salim was driving a 2005 Suzuki and hit a parked 2003 Nissan, which belonged to Cobb resident Cain Twyman, a reporter for The Daily Tar Heel. The Nissan was pushed into a light pole, causing the light to go out.
Salim initially told The Daily Tar Heel he was a bystander and claimed that he ran up to the driver of the car responsible for the accident to see if he was hurt. Salim claimed to have seen the driver leave the scene as he was walking down Country Club Road.
“I was just terrified when I was at the scene so I made up stories. I was just so scared and there were lots of people asking me questions,” Salim said. “Honestly, I don’t remember much of what happened.”
The crash report initially misidentified Salim as the owner of the car that was hit, not the driver of the car responsible for the crash.
Randy Young, spokesman for the UNC Department of Public Safety, said a clerical error caused the vehicles and owners to be recorded incorrectly in the crash report.
“I think they were able to ascertain the owner of the car some other way since he did not claim responsibility that night, but he obviously did not leave the scene if The Daily Tar Heel spoke to him,” Young said.