Sunday, November 25, 2007

Californian Judge Orders Illegally Modified Honda Civic To Be Crushed

Californian authorities destroyed a supped up 1995 Honda Civic that belonged to 18-year-old Lakewood resident, Clifford Sung, a few weeks after the latter was arrested in Long Beach for having a vehicle with an illegal engine. This is the first time in Long Beach's history that an illegally modified car has been crushed.

Sung was stopped on Oct. 15, 2007 after Long Beach officers noticed his Honda's illegally modified exhaust system. Long Beach officer Brian Nystedt stated that police saw other signs of illegal street racing, including a fiberglass hood and a sway bar on the back of the car that led to an inspection under the hood revealing that the VIN had been chipped off the transmission. -Continued (Video of the crush after the jump)

City Prosecutor, Tom Reeves, justified the destruction of the car by saying that a high number of deaths in and around Long Beach in the past few years attributed to street racing have made the city aggressively pursue racers who break the law.

Ironically, while Sung -who had no prior convictions- managed get away with a misdemeanour charge (he was sentenced to probation and the judge ordered his car to be destroyed), the 18-year-old Lakewood resident was arrested again one week after he settled his case in court. However, this time, things aren’t going to be as easy for Sung as he was charged for felony auto theft that occurred on Nov. 8. As the saying goes, a wise man never makes the same mistake twice…

Via: Presstelegram