Schenectady man gets 20 years in prison for trying to kill estranged wife with car

A Schenectady man was sentenced on Thursday to 20 years in prison for trying to kill his estranged wife by hitting her with his car.

Sherifulah Hashimi, 62, was convicted in February of several charges including attempted murder and assault for the incident on July 23, 2023. Hashimi tried to run down the wife when she attempted to cross the street to get away from him.

Video footage of the scene and data from the car’s computer system showed that Hashimi had his foot on the brake a little more than 3 seconds before the incident. He then pressed the accelerator fully down and steered the car to try to pin her between his car and parked vehicle, according to the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office.

When Hashimi struck the victim, she was thrown into the air and landed onto the parked car instead of being pinned between the two vehicles. Hashimi had told police that he had mistaken the gas pedal for the brake, and still maintained it was an accident.

The victim survived without life-threatening injuries. She had experienced a lifetime of abuse at Hashimi’s hands, according to prosecutors. She separated from him, but Hashimi would not let her leave. He harassed, stalked and harassed him and got an order of protection.  

Hashimi also must serve 5 years of post-release supervision.