Cabbie In Crash That Killed John Nash Began Driving Taxi Two Weeks Ago

The cabbie involved in the crash that killed famed mathematician John Nash and his wife began driving a taxi two weeks ago, his son told the New York Post.

Nash, 86 and his wife, Alicia, 82, were in the taxi, heading to their Princeton Junction home from the airport, when they were killed in the crash near Exit 8A on the New Jersey Turnpike in Monroe Saturday, according to published reports.

The cab driver, Tarek Girgis, 46, of Elizabeth, lost control of the taxi as he tried to pass a Chrysler Concorde, according to NJ 101.5.

Around 4:30 p.m., Girgis was driving a 2007 Ford Crown Victoria cab when he veered from the left lane to the right, according to State Police, who posted a news release to their Facebook page. The cab hit a guard rail, then hit the Chrysler Concorde, which was in the center lane, State Police said.

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John and Alicia Nash were ejected from the cab, and both were pronounced dead at the scene, according to State Police.

“Preliminary information indicates that neither John nor Alicia Nash were wearing their seatbelts, although a thorough examination of the taxi will be performed,’’ the news release from State Police said.

Girgis was trapped in the taxi and had to be extricated by members of the Cranbury Fire Department, police said. He was airlifted to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver of the Concorde, Lisa Farrell-Hoyte, 41, of Bronx, N.Y., was not injured. Her front seat passenger, Anastasia Reid, 69, also from Bronx, was taken to a hospital in Princeton for treatment of neck pain, police said.

The cab driver’s son, Kerolos Girgis, told the New York Post that his father previously drove an ice cream truck, but then started a new company. The elder Girgis began driving the taxi two weeks ago, according to the 19-year-old, who took over the ice cream truck route from his father, the Post reported.

The Nashes were returning home from Norway, where Norwegian King Harald V. presented John Nash and Louis Nirenberg of NYU with the prestigious Abel Prize, according to the Post.

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters posted a note on its website about the death of the Nashes:

“The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters deeply mourns the sudden death of John Forbes Nash Jr. and Alicia Nash. On Tuesday May 19th, John Forbes Nash Jr. and Louis Nirenberg received the Abel Prize in mathematics from His Majesty King Harald. The Academy was greatly honoured that both laureates and their wives came to Norway to receive the Abel Prize for 2015. After memorable days with the Abel Prize ceremony in Oslo and Abel Prize lectures in Oslo and Bergen, it is deeply tragic that John Forbes Nash Jr. and Alicia Nash passed away during their journey home. Our heartfelt condolences go to the family of John F. and Alicia Nash.”

The Nashes had made arrangements to be picked up a limo, but because of a change in flight plans, they arrived at the airport in Newark five hours early and wound up taking the cab, the Post said.

Nash was a senior research mathematician at Princeton University and the recipient of the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. The brilliant mathematician’s struggle with schizophrenia inspired the movie, “A Beautiful Mind.”

The crash remains under investigation by State Trooper from the Cranbury Station, the State Police Fatal Accident Unit and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. No charges have been filed.

PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons, Peter Badge