Two 18-year-olds arrested and charged, copy of Need for Speed found in one suspect's car
Jan. 25, 2006. 08:13 PM
CANADIAN PRESS
The fantasy world of videogame street racing may have influenced two teenage boys accused of piloting real-life luxury cars in a high-speed contest that killed a taxi driver, police said Wednesday.
A copy of Need for Speed, a game that allows players to select custom cars and race them through crowded urban areas, was found on the front seat of one of the suspect’s cars following the late-night crash.
“Here we have, in real life, two guys driving high-end cars at a high rate of speed in an urban area,” said Toronto police Det. Paul Lobsinger.
“I don’t think it’s a giant leap for people to say, `Wow, how does this go together?’”
The 18-year-old friends were racing a pair of Mercedes Benzes through one of the city’s wealthiest neighbourhoods on Tuesday night, reaching speeds of 140 kilometres an hour in a 50-kilometre zone, police allege.
The taxi was struck while making a left turn, killing 46-year-old driver Tahir Khan.
The married father of two young children immigrated to Canada six years ago from Pakistan, said Jim Bell, general manager of Diamond Taxicab Association.
“He was working to . . . reunite his family in Canada, and lived the Canadian dream,” said Bell.
“Tahir’s dream for him and his family has been ended.”
The blunt force of the crash left the taxi wrapped around a utility pole, plumes of steam still rolling off the wreckage as investigators sifted through the twisted metal.
Despite finding an auto-racing game at the scene of the crime, Lobsinger stressed the game wasn’t solely to blame.
“Look, in the proper perspective . . . if everyone imitated a videogame such as that, we’d have to ban cars,” he said.
The driver of the Mercedes involved in the crash suffered only a few scratches. The other driver fled the scene, police said.
Alexander Ryazanov and Wang-Piao Ross are charged with criminal negligence causing death. Ross also faces a charge of failing to stop after an accident causing death.
Both Ross and Ryazanov appeared in court Wednesday, with their bail hearings rescheduled to Friday and next Monday, respectively.
In the prisoner’s docket, Ross, dressed in a white and beige hooded sweatshirt, whispered to Ryazanov, in a grey ribbed sweater.
Ross’s mother left the courtroom without offering comment.
The incident is the latest in what some say is a growing plague of street racing nationwide.
Last year, a pedestrian in Edmonton was killed when one of two racing Corvettes spun out of control and hit the woman from behind. The incident prompted provincial politicians to pass legislation allowing police to seize vehicles for 24 hours in cases involving street racing.
Just days before the law came into effect, two men died when their vehicles collided in Calgary in an apparent street race.
In B.C., two men charged with killing an elderly woman during a race were committed to trial earlier this month.
The increase in street racing incidents across Canada prompted the former Liberal government to introduce legislation requiring judges to revoke the driver’s licence of anyone convicted of street racing.
The bill failed to pass into law before the government fell last November.
