Report: Man Charged With Reckless Driving For 'Fastest Lap Around Manhattan' On The Lam In Canada
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The viral video posted on YouTube last year shows Adam Tang speeding in a lap around Manhattan.
A jury convicted him of reckless endangerment and reckless driving this week, but he wasn't around to hear it, WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported. According to a local report, he raced back to his native country of Canada.
He told a local NYC television station via Skype that he thinks the United States legal system failed him and that the jury was rigged. He also said he doesn't think the stunt was reckless.
Report: Man Charged With Reckless Driving For 'Fastest Lap Around Manhattan' On The Lam In Canada
The video, which was posted online in August 2013 and made the rounds on the internet, 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.
He faces a year behind bars and plans to appeal.
"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.
There is no word yet on whether Canada will extradite Tang. He is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 8.
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