LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A road-rage crash critically injured a mother and her two
small children, who were crushed between parked cars, police said Wednesday.
Two men were booked for investigation of attempted murder in connection with the
crash Tuesday in the San Fernando Valley.
The drivers of a black Nissan Maxima and a red Chevrolet Camaro got into a
dispute shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday in the Van Nuys area and began racing and
weaving along city streets at 50 mph to 90 mph, police said.
The cars were ''cutting each other off, they were jockeying for position,''
Detective Bill Butos said. ''They were tapping on the brakes, one of the
vehicles was tapping on the brakes, trying to cause the other vehicle to ram
into the vehicle.''
In Reseda, the Camaro slammed on its brakes and the Nissan tried to avoid it and
hit a parked car, Officer Jason Lee said.
A 31-year-old woman and her two children were smashed between parked cars.
Police did not release their names. However, relatives identified the woman as
Syeda Arif.
The woman was in critical condition Wednesday at a hospital.
''She has lost one leg and the other leg is, unfortunately, crushed. They're
trying to save that,'' Lee said.
Her 4-year-old son was hospitalized on life support and his 8 1/2-month old
sister was hospitalized in critical condition, Lee said.
Witnesses said the younger child was ''launched into the air and slammed against
a tree, '' police Capt. Ron Marbrey said.
Arif's husband, Amir Arif, told KCAL-TV that his son had massive brain damage.
''It's a matter of time that doctor will take out his life support ... my son
dies,'' he said.
The Nissan driver, Armando Gamboa Ayon, 19, of Pacoima, was arrested at the
scene and the Camaro's driver, Brian Barnes, 44, of Northridge, later
surrendered at a police station. Both were booked for investigation of attempted
murder and held on bail of $1.5 million each, police said.
''That could change if the 4-year-old ends up dying. It would be a murder
charge,'' Lee said.
There was no answer at a phone number listed for a Brian Barnes in Northridge
Wednesday evening. There was no listing for Gamboa Ayon in Pacoima or the
surrounding area.
The crash was ''entirely senseless, entirely the basis of two individuals that
got into a contest of wills, if you will, over nothing more than a common
traffic dispute ... over nothing more than whose car is on the roadway in front
of the other person,'' Deputy Chief Michael Moore said.
SELMER, Tenn. (AP) -- Three more people have died after a drag-racing car
went out of control and careened into a crowd of spectators, raising the death
toll to seven, state officials said Sunday.
The crash occurred Saturday night during an ''exhibition burnout'' -- when a
driver spins his tires to make them heat up and smoke -- at the Cars for Kids
charity event in Selmer, located about 80 miles east of Memphis.
Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Browning said the seven who died
included a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old. At least eight people were taken to
hospitals and several others had minor injuries, he said.
Amateur video of the crash, broadcast on WMC-TV in Memphis, showed the car's
engine revving loudly before the vehicle sped down a highway lined with
spectators on both sides. After a few hundred feet, the smoking car skidded off
the road.
There was a guard rail along at least part of the highway but not along the
stretch where the crash occurred.
The identities of the victims and the driver were not immediately released.
Mourners placed small votive candles at the crash site early Sunday.
Witness Garett Moore said he was about to walk across the highway, thinking the
show was over, when he saw the dragster racing toward him. He was about 15 feet
from the wreck but was uninjured.
''It ain't really safe to do anything with drag cars on a city street,'' Moore
said.
Selmer Police Chief Neal Burks said ''bodies were flying into the air when it
happened.''
''I saw body parts flying everywhere,'' said witness Sean Hood.
Browning said the vehicle was a drag-racing car, but he did not have details.
Matthew Brammer, administrator of AMS Pro Modified Series, which sanctions drag
races, said late Saturday that the car involved has been driven by drag racer
Troy Critchley, of Wylie, Texas, but he did not know if Critchley was driving
when the car struck the crowd.
The AMS Pro Modified Series later issued a news release saying the driver was a
veteran of more than 20 years in drag racing and had to be taken to an emergency
room.
The release said the driver was performing a burnout when road conditions caused
the car to go out of control.
''The race team is in shock and deeply saddened by this unexpected event. Their
hearts and prayers are with the injured people and their families,'' the release
said.
Authorities closed the festival after the crash. About 40,000 to 60,000 people
were expected to attend the weekend event.
Cars for Kids holds several events throughout the nation and raises close to
$200,000 annually for charities that help children in need, according to its Web
site.
A statement posted on the Web site Sunday offered an apology to the victims and
their families: ''The loss is deep within our hearts and we will carry the scars
of each loss forever.''
The charity was formed in 1990, two years after founder Larry Price's son, Chad,
suffered a severe head injury in a bicycle accident.
Price promised that if his son was saved from lifelong injuries, he would spend
the rest of his life raising funds for disabled children, according to the Web
site.
Price did not immediately return calls seeking comment Sunday.
BARTOW, Fla. (AP) — A judge has ordered a man who pleaded guilty to vehicular
homicide to display a large picture of the victim in his home after serving two
years in prison.
Circuit Judge Robert Doyel said Friday that the picture must be at least 2 feet
wide and displayed prominently. It also must include lettering that says: 'I'm
sorry I killed you.'
Arthur Pierce, 31, was racing with his cousin on a busy street when they caused
an accident that killed 17-year-old Chelsi Gregory, authorities said. Witnesses
told police Pierce was swerving in traffic at about 120 mph when his Cadillac
collided with a pickup in which Gregory was a passenger.
A prosecutor also said alcohol was a factor in the crash. Pierce's cousin,
Christopher Pierce, is set to be sentenced April 5.
An advocate for Mothers Against Drunk Driving requested the photograph be part
of Pierce's sentence, according to The Ledger of Lakeland newspaper.
The judge said that Pierce's probation officer will be allowed to search his
home at any time, and if the photograph is not displayed, it will be considered
a probation violation.
Sir - It is a lamentable fact that one can scarcely take up a newspaper without
the pain of meeting with an accident that has arisen from a stage coach. So
frequently do these happen, that with catastrophes of this dreadful kind we are
almost familiarized.
It is only by contiguous occurrences, that our sympathetic feelings are really
awakened to the magnitude of the evil in question. The overturning of the
Commercial Union Coach, at Hollinwood, was caused by a circumstance so trifling
in itself, that it is surprising the public attention has not been directed to
the subject of safety.
Is it rational to trust the lives of 14 or 15 human beings to the mercy of a
leather strap, not more than an inch broad? Is it necessary?
A practical, and, I believe, safe method is already known; and ought to be
immediately adopted, viz. wheels constructed on the plan of the mail coaches. I
fear the cause of humanity would not be in the best of hands, if confided to the
care of the public's obedient servants, the coach proprietors.
In 1820, the Society of Arts offered a gold medal or 30 guineas for the best
method of preventing accidents arising from stage coaches. In addition to which
I should propose that a premium of 500 guineas should be given for the best
practical methods of preventing all possible accidents.
Should any one object to the proposed sum, be it remembered that the admirable
society which offered 30 guineas, offers annually upwards of 1,000 guineas for
the encouragement of genius in various ways, but here the interest of the
community at large is so intimately concerned that an ample premium should be
given.
Yours, Z.
PS, May 22 - If anything were wanted to convince of the necessity for some
efficacious means being adopted, in order to render travelling by coach more
safe than at present, it will be found in the following successive accident,
which happened on Friday ,the 17th, to the True Briton Coach, before it had left
the office in Manchester three quarters of an hour.
One of the lynch-pins having come out from the near fore-wheel upon Newton
Heath, another came out nearly opposite the Wheat Sheaf public-house, in
Failsworth, when the coach fell, and the consequence was that one female had her
thigh and another her arm broken! Several other passengers were considerably
injured.- Any further comment would be needless.
