Investigators looking into the death of Dustin Friedland, the lawyer who was shot and killed in a fatal carjacking in New Jersey Saturday said he likely wasn't trying to save his car, but rather protect his wife, who was sitting in the front seat.
Friedland, 30, struggled with the two gun-wielding assailants who demanded he turn over the keys to his 2012 Range Rover in the parking garage at The Mall at Short Hills in Millburn.
“He knew his wife was in there and he refused,” a source close to the investigation told the New York Daily News. The attacker then fired at Friedland, striking him fatally in the head.
“Then one of them comes to [Jamie Frieldland's] door and says, ‘Get out of the car,’” the source said. “She got a look at him.”
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Friends say they're certain Friedland died trying to protect his wife -- not his $70,000 car.
“Dustin was rational, intelligent and had great judgment,” said Adam Leitman Bailey, Jamie Friedland's boss at a Manhattan law firm. “I highly doubt that he fought the attackers to save his car. I do believe he would fight for his wife’s life.”
Bailey said his law firm was offering $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the two men who attacked Friedland.
Investigators said the attackers may be part of a carjacking ring who were casing the parking garage and spotted the Friedlands' Range Rover.
Friedland died several hours at a hospital after the attack. The car was recovered near an abandoned house early Sunday morning.
[NY Daily News]
