Evo Street Racers: Enforcement News: Prime Minister pledges to tackle street racing

After a teen's death, officials look to parents to counter the combination of open roads and youths in fast cars.

Source: The Orange County Register
Author:ERIKA I. RITCHIE and SPENCER KALLICK
Date: September 28, 2006

LAGUNA HILLS – This week's death of an 18-year-old Laguna Niguel youth is the latest fatality in a spiking trend of south Orange County speed contests involving teens and high-powered cars, law-enforcement officials say.

Wide-open parkways present an inviting stage for the exhibition of speed, often tempting teens in expensive high-performance sports cars to impromptu street races.

Police say it's time to step up enforcement through education and parent awareness.

"It's alluring because teens want to test their vehicles," said Sgt. Fred Furey, who oversees the Orange County Sheriff's Regional Traffic and Auto Theft Bureau. "It's nothing for teenagers to challenge society. It's extra scary when it's an expensive sports car. It opens up too much horsepower for an inexperienced driver."

The Sheriff's Department is targeting street racing through a public-awareness campaign, training officers in the latest trends and equipment, and cracking down on speeders. High school forums will educate students and parents about the dangers of speeding.

"If (parents) are going to provide their children with these expensive sports cars, they need to sit down and discuss the power and the ramifications if they get speeding tickets," Furey said. "Many of the drivers we see in collisions have a past record of speeding."

On Monday, Parees Ghassemian, 18, of Laguna Niguel died in an impromptu street race. Twenty-year-old Arya Asgarynejad of Irvine was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and operating a vehicle with gross negligence causing death.

Two girls were injured, one seriously. Tara Moghamdam, 17, is in critical condition at CHOC at Mission. Kara Jafarina, 18, is in fair condition. A third passenger, Mohsen Modjtahedi, 20, of Irvine was not injured.

Two teens died on Live Oak Canyon Road this summer. Ryan Case,18, of Rancho Santa Margarita veered off the road and struck a tree after driving near 60 mph on the road posted for 35 mph. In June, Jeremy Whealen, 17, of Lake Forest was killed after losing control while speeding.

Furey's seen the trend spike before. During the weekend of Aug. 28, 2004, two major traffic crashes in Laguna Niguel involved teenage drivers. Both were attributed to excessive speed. The drivers of both had major injuries as did five of the eight passengers. A 14-year-old girl died.

Authorities are seeing a correlation between a rise in racing enthusiasm and video racing games and movies such as the recent summer release "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift."

Parents have seen this, too. Thomas Case lost his son Ryan when the 18-year-old's car spun out of control and caught on fire on Live Oak Canyon Road in Trabuco Canyon last month. Case says his son was involved in racing and believes films and video games inspired this dangerous thrill. He preached to his son every time he went out the door to be careful.

"We all love our children and want to provide them with these great lifestyles," he said. "These kids play these video games and think they can take them to reality. What part does Hollywood take in movies like 'The Fast and Furious?' I don't get it. In the movies, it's all acting. The same thing with the games – you crash your car, you get it back and start over."

Case bought Ryan, his only child, a BMW only after getting him started on cars that didn't invite fast speeds.

"I bought him that car because it was the safest car I found," he said.

Now he's reaching out to other parents and teens about the dangers of speeding. In the past two weeks, he's counseled more than 100 teens at his home in Rancho Santa Margarita.

"I think we don't say 'no' enough. I think we don't question them enough," he said. "We've taught them they don't have to pay the consequences and that there's a way out of everything."

Judy Ray, president of Driving Concepts, wants to help save lives. She teaches parents and kids to be better drivers. Often teens with nice cars were probably never really taught how to handle the car, she said.

"We teach them, 'Cocky will kill you; confidence will save your life,' " she said. "Giving a kid the keys to a car these days is like giving kids a .45-caliber gun and saying, 'Here ya go, go out and practice – don't shoot anything, but just practice.' I don't blame kids, though, because it's the parents' responsibility to teach them how to drive safely."

Recent fatal O.C. high-speed crashes

January 2006 – Jeffrey Scott Charters of Anaheim is killed driving his 1998 Honda motorcycle south on State College Boulevard shortly after noon when a 2004 Toyota Camry pulls out to make a left turn. A witness told detectives Charters had been racing a second motorcyclist.

August 2005 – Brian Doyel and Christopher Goessling, both 19, are killed when the borrowed Ferrari they are riding in crashes into a tree while traveling on Nohl Ranch Road in Anaheim Hills. Police said they do not believe drugs or alcohol were involved.

April 2005 – 10-year-old Kylee McGowen is killed instantly when the Ford Mustang she is riding in is hit by a Nissan 240 SX racing down Brookhurst Avenue in Fountain Valley. The Nissan's driver, Ahmed Shakir Dakhil, is charged with murder. Three other occupants in the car also suffer serious injuries.

August 2004 – In Laguna Niguel, five teenagers in an SUV clip another car before spinning out of control and smashing into a concrete wall during a street race, critically injuring a 17-year-old passenger. The impact also sends pieces of bricks down a 25-foot backyard slope, shattering a sliding-glass bedroom door and injuring a man asleep in bed.

August 2004 – Brianna Moore, 14, of Mission Viejo dies in a high-speed crash at 6:45 a.m. at Niguel Road, south of Marina Hills Drive. Preliminary investigation of the accident indicates the driver was traveling more than 90 miles per hour. Four others in the car sustain serious injuries.

August 2003 – Ryan Harris, 19, of Laguna Niguel and Mamdouh Youssef, 18, of Aliso Viejo die after crashing into a tree on the median of Crown Valley Parkway in Laguna Niguel. Police say speeding seems to have been a factor.

May 2003 – Margaret Levya, 74, of Huntington Beach is killed when Julio Enrique Trujillo of Santa Ana loses control of his yellow Mustang GT, striking the Volkswagen Golf driven by Levya. Trujillo and racing partner Rodrigo Gomez, 22, of Santa Ana each plead guilty to vehicular manslaughter and receive six years in prison.

August 2001 – Jose Estrada, 35, and his 6-year-old daughter Michelle are killed on Flower Street in Santa Ana when they were hit head-on by a street racer. Arturo Ortiz Jr., a 21-year-old Santa Ana man, was convicted of two counts of second-degree murder in 2002.

September 2001 – Steven Katzenberger, 16, is killed when he loses control of his car and strikes a tree in Laguna Niguel while street racing with another teen.

November 2001 – Raymond Scott Shelly, 40, of San Clemente and Jose Valverde of Dana Point are killed when Shelly's Dodge Caravan is hit by a yellow Mustang racing a black Mustang on a busy street in Dana Point. Erin Lynn Gormley, 19, is sentenced to six years in prison for the crime.

Compiled by news researcher Michael Doss