Downtown car crash kills friends


BOB MITCHELL AND VIVIAN SONG
STAFF REPORTERS

The Olympic dreams of a gifted 19-year-old martial arts athlete have ended in a horrific car crash along a downtown Toronto street.

Ryan Hariraj and his friend Jason Kim, 20, also of Woodbridge, died and four other friends were injured when their car lost control and slammed into a tree as their Honda Civic failed to manoeuvre around a bend on Adelaide St. near Parliament St.

"Oh my God, oh my God," cried Hariraj's grandmother Bibi yesterday afternoon as she sat in her grandson's Woodbridge home, grief stricken by the early-morning tragedy.

"How will we ever get over this?" said Bibi, her eyes filled with tears, as she struggled to come to grips with what had happened to her grandson.

Toronto police said Hariraj's red Honda was headed east on Adelaide St. when the crash occurred at around 3 a.m., travelling with a Pontiac Sunfire that was not involved in the crash. Although it's believed the occupants of both vehicles were coming from the same nightclub, police said alcohol wasn't a factor.

"My son wanted to go to the Olympics, the 2008 Olympics," said Ryan's mother Shereen, who received the news at about 7 a.m., when police knocked on the door on Wildberry Cres.

"He was a martial arts expert in karate, jujitsu, everything. It was his dream to go to the Olympics."

Shereen said she knows very little about the crash except that she's been told by police that her son was sitting in the front passenger seat, while his friend Jason was sitting directly behind him.

Three of the other people in the car were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. A fourth person was unhurt.

Police said the tree crushed the right side of the Honda and both of the young men died at the scene. There was only one person in the Sunfire, police said.

Shereen said her son hadn't decided whether he was going to go to college but had scholarship offers from the U.S.

"He was a very good kid."

Shereen said her son, who attended Woodbridge Collegiate, left with his friends on Friday night at about 7 p.m. She said they were headed for a downtown nightclub to celebrate a birthday.

Kim's family members declined to say anything about their loss.

"It was my son's Honda but he wasn't driving," said Shereen, who has another son Rocky, 17, and a daughter Amelia, 10. Shereen said her son loved to teach children martial arts at the Black Tiger karate club.

Ryan's father, Ramrattan Hariraj, had hoped to hand down his North York mechanic shop to his oldest son.

"He used to come to the garage when he was 2 and watch me work," Hariraj said. He was estranged from his son after separating from his wife 14 years ago, but offered to teach him everything he knew about cars.

"I even gave him this car," he said pointing to a dusty, stripped Honda Civic behind him.

Traffic services Staff Sergeant Brian Bowman said his department hasn't determined whether the tragedy occurred as a result of a drag race.

Van-Manh Truong, 21, of Windsor, and William Shin, 21, of Brampton, the drivers of the two vehicles, were each charged with two counts of criminal negligence causing death and three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm. Shin is among those still in hospital, police said.

With files from Lauren Krugel and Paul Choi

Investigators quickly realized they’d had contact with Shin before. “A charge of careless driving was laid less than two weeks ago, when the driver was found to be speeding at almost 60 kilometres per hour over the posted speed limit,” relates Supt. Steve Grant. “And at that time, the officer cautioned the motorist that he was likely to kill someone if he were to continue to drive at those speeds. Tragically, how prophetic.”

It’s also alleged one of the two charged was under suspension – and was using phony licenses to avoid detection.