Driver Who Sped Around Manhattan In Online Video Found Guilty Of Reckless Endangerment
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A jury found a man who turned Manhattan into his own personal racetrack guilty Thursday.
Adam Tang was convicted in absentia on charges of reckless endangerment and reckless driving, crimes that carry up to a year in jail, WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported.
The speedster went on the lam just before the jury got the case, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Driver Who Sped Around Manhattan Found Guilty Of Reckless Endangerment
The Canadian's vanishing act followed the testimony of a prosecution expert who watched the dashboard video and documented Tang's record-breaking drive around Manhattan in 24 minutes, 7 seconds, at an average speed of 65 mph. The expert said Tang's actions could have resulted in a serious crash.
The video, which was posted online in August 2013 and went viral, shows the car heading south on the FDR Drive from 116th Street to Battery Park and then up West Street back to 116th Street. A superimposed stopwatch on the screen records the lap time.
Tang is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 8.
"The city's roadways are not a racetrack," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said in a statement. "Adam Tang showed blatant disregard for our traffic laws, and this dangerous and illegal behavior -- which he repeatedly flaunted online -- placed lives at risk. His daredevil antics were rightly found to be reckless by a jury of his peers, and I would like to thank them for their service on this case."
In March, Tang rebuffed a plea deal that would have put him behind bars for two months.
Defense lawyer Gregory Gomez said then that there was no proof Tang acted recklessly. Tang told authorities he never went over 100 mph and ran only one red light. The video shows the car stopping for six others.
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