They continued through Westerly and downtown Pawcatuck, but once they passed the Pawcatuck Shopping Center they sped up again, according to court documents. A few seconds later, one of the cars, a Ford Taurus, slammed into a light pole in the parking lot of the Tim Hortons store while traveling 74 miles per hour, more than twice the 35-mile-per-hour speed limit. According to the documents, the two cars had been racing to the Brookside Village housing complex, which is just across the street from the doughnut shop.

The crash killed 18-year-old Michael J. Raffo Jr. of 27 Lincoln Ave., Pawcatuck, and on Wednesday police announced they had arrested the two Pawcatuck men who were driving the speeding cars.

Benjamin Geer Jr., 20, of 44 Morgan St., who was driving the Taurus in which Raffo was riding, and David A. Besso, 20, of 101 Brookside Lane were each charged with reckless driving and racing. Geer was also charged with misconduct with a motor vehicle.

Geer turned himself in to police Wednesday morning and was arraigned in New London Superior Court. He was released on a promise to appear in court Aug. 29. His attorney, Anthony Basilica, declined to comment on the charges against his client. Geer faces a prison term of up to six years, 30 days, and a fine of $5,900.

Besso turned himself in to police Tuesday night and is slated to appear in New London Superior Court Aug. 3. Besso faces a prison sentence of up to one year, 30 days, and a fine of $900.

Raffo had to be extricated from the car and was flown by Life Star helicopter to The William W. Backus Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a little more than an hour after the 10:41 p.m. accident. Geer was taken to The Westerly Hospital and was released the next day.

According to the affidavit for Geer's arrest, Besso said he was behind Geer on Route 1 when he came around the corner and saw the Taurus sliding sideways without its brake lights on. He said he saw the car hit the curb, go up in the air and flip over. Besso said that when Geer regained consciousness about five minutes after the accident, he said his brakes had locked up. A passenger in Besso's car, Kimberly Daniels, said she also heard Geer say the same thing.

Police said the marks left by Geer's tires showed his brakes were not locked at the time of the accident and that calculations show he was driving 74 miles per hour at the time of the accident. Geer admitted to police that he was traveling between 50 and 70 miles per hour just before the accident. He admitted to driving fast and racing Besso, but said they weren't doing “anything crazy.”

Geer also told police that his stepfather, who is a mechanic, had done some work on his car on the day of the accident after he had struck a curb in Westerly a few weeks earlier. Geer said his stepfather told him there was something weird about the brakes because they were getting hot. Both Geer's stepfather, James Allen Sr., and grandfather, Harry Perkins, had told him to be careful driving the car.

Perkins said that two days before the accident he had replaced the brakes on the Taurus, but he did not notice they were heating up. Geer also complained about a banging noise, and Perkins told him to bring him the car so he could look at it, but he never did.

A certified mechanic inspected the car for police and found “no evidence of mechanical failure that would have caused the accident,” according to the affidavit. Blood tests of Geer showed he was not driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash.

A Westerly EMT, who later responded to the accident, said the two cars passed her on Route 1 in Westerly at a high rate of speed, and she had to slam on her brakes to avoid one that cut in front of her.

Acting Deputy Police Chief Darren Stewart said police are treating the racing accident as an isolated incident. He said racing is not a rampant problem in town.