FYI heard on the TV that at least one participant admitted what they did to the media, that part isn't in this print story, but that just adds to the WTF. So if admitting to doing a crime isn't enough evidence anymore, what is?
Montreal Gazette wrote:
VANCOUVER — A group of young drivers who had their high-end vehicles seized after hitting speeds up to 200 kilometres on a Vancouver-area highway may lose their cars.
The 13 cars were supposed to be released Thursday after being in an impound lot for seven days. Instead the case has been referred to the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office after the RCMP's Lower Mainland District Traffic Services provided information to the Federal Integrated Proceeds of Crime Section, which evaluated the Sept. 1 incident.
Supt. Norm Gaumont, head of traffic services for the RCMP in the Lower Mainland, said in a release there was not enough evidence against the drivers to proceed with criminal charges.
"With the criminal avenue closed to us, we decided to see if there was enough evidence to proceed civilly," said Gaumont.
The Proceeds of Crime unit recommended the Forfeiture Office assess the case for four reasons: the vehicles were by definition "street racing," speeds were estimated as high as 200 km/h on roads designed and signposted for 90 km/h, there was disregard by all the involved drivers for the motoring public and there was the potential for catastrophic injury or death.
The vehicles, which included a Lamborghini, a Maserati, a Ferrari and an Aston Martin, are estimated to be worth as much as $2 million in total.
Witnesses reported the cars were working together — two vehicles would drive side-by-side to slow down traffic so the other cars could race ahead at speeds estimated to be as high as 200 km/h.
Surrey RCMP stopped six of the cars when they left the freeway while the other seven were stopped shortly afterward by White Rock RCMP.
The 12 young men and one woman were all under 21 years of age and two were under 18. Six had full licences but six were new drivers and one was without a valid Canadian driver's licence.
They were all given $196 tickets for driving without reasonable considerations, and were to lose six points on their licences.
They all lost access to their vehicles for a week but now may lose much more.
Only one of the drivers was the registered owner of their vehicle.
Media reports have indicated some of the drivers were from St. George's School, a prestigious private school which has cited privacy concerns in refusing to confirm or deny its students were involved.
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/cars/seize+million+convoy+luxury+cars+used+street+racing/5373198/story.html#ixzz1XPyHhedx
The 13 cars were supposed to be released Thursday after being in an impound lot for seven days. Instead the case has been referred to the B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office after the RCMP's Lower Mainland District Traffic Services provided information to the Federal Integrated Proceeds of Crime Section, which evaluated the Sept. 1 incident.
Supt. Norm Gaumont, head of traffic services for the RCMP in the Lower Mainland, said in a release there was not enough evidence against the drivers to proceed with criminal charges.
"With the criminal avenue closed to us, we decided to see if there was enough evidence to proceed civilly," said Gaumont.
The Proceeds of Crime unit recommended the Forfeiture Office assess the case for four reasons: the vehicles were by definition "street racing," speeds were estimated as high as 200 km/h on roads designed and signposted for 90 km/h, there was disregard by all the involved drivers for the motoring public and there was the potential for catastrophic injury or death.
The vehicles, which included a Lamborghini, a Maserati, a Ferrari and an Aston Martin, are estimated to be worth as much as $2 million in total.
Witnesses reported the cars were working together — two vehicles would drive side-by-side to slow down traffic so the other cars could race ahead at speeds estimated to be as high as 200 km/h.
Surrey RCMP stopped six of the cars when they left the freeway while the other seven were stopped shortly afterward by White Rock RCMP.
The 12 young men and one woman were all under 21 years of age and two were under 18. Six had full licences but six were new drivers and one was without a valid Canadian driver's licence.
They were all given $196 tickets for driving without reasonable considerations, and were to lose six points on their licences.
They all lost access to their vehicles for a week but now may lose much more.
Only one of the drivers was the registered owner of their vehicle.
Media reports have indicated some of the drivers were from St. George's School, a prestigious private school which has cited privacy concerns in refusing to confirm or deny its students were involved.
Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/cars/seize+million+convoy+luxury+cars+used+street+racing/5373198/story.html#ixzz1XPyHhedx
Edited, Sep 8th 2011 7:26pm by Olorinus