Online evidence convicts M5 driver
2010-08-13 07:11
Think having no plates on the front makes you safe? Think again. If you post the place and time of a speeding offence and police can find witnesses to back it up you’re very likely to be prosecuted.
The internet may have equalled access to information, but it has also enabled swift justice to be happened upon fools.
Each day a litany of online petrolhead forums are abuzz with tales of daring.
It is one thing to use an online pseudonym and market your naughty excesses on quiet B-roads, another altogether when you tear through a suburban street at 140km/h – especially when the speed limit is only 40km/h.
This is the state of affairs which led to Canadian Vladimir Rigenco (19) losing his licence.
It all started when Vladimir’s parents had bought him a rather neat 2006 BMW M5.
The 373kW fifth-generation M5, with its obstinate SMG transmission and F1-bred 5l V10 engine, is not a toy. Handing it over to a 19-year old is a massive leap of faith in the rational faculties possessed by a teenager.
Vladimir, predictably, could not behave when behind the wheel of his M5. He could hardly contain his pride at tearing up suburban Vaugh’s streets in it either and posted details of his antics online in March.
"Yesterday I was going back home during the day time after the GYM, and when I hit the street next to my house 'Appleblosom dr' the zone there is 40 km/h, as soon as I turn into that street, I stopped the car, pressed the (M) button, DSC off, max short shift, and take off 1st gear ( 8000 RPM, switch) and so on..."
"I hit 140 in like 6 or less seconds lol, some old guy was standing on the sidewalk talking to another guy, he had a pencil and a paper, he decides to run into my car to stop me, but I was too fast."
"I gotta admit, I can’t stop racing with this car, believe it or not, I killed a black E63 AMG Last week on Dufferin street."
Members of the forum (5series.net) castigated Vladimir’s actions.
One forum member had the presence of mind to report his suburban boy-racer antics to the Canadian police’s regional York office.
After investigating the online evidence and visiting the streets mentioned to gather eyewitness statements, police arrested Validmir a month after his original bragging post.
Vladimir pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a six-month driving ban, 12-month probation and neat $1 000 fine in April.
Ontario police said the case, from investigation to prosecution, was an example of how traditional eyewitness and digital evidence can combine in a 'new era' of law enforcement. You have been warned.
