The 32-year-old man who was found guilty of reckless endangerment and reckless driving after he posted a YouTube video last year showing him driving a lap around Manhattan in 24 minutes has fled the country and is now on the run. Michael George reports.
The 32-year-old man who was found guilty of reckless endangerment and reckless driving after he posted a YouTube video last year showing him driving a lap around Manhattan in 24 minutes has fled the country and is now on the run.
Speaking by Skype to NBC 4 New York from what he claimed was a hotel room in Canada, Adam Tang said he wanted to clear the air about that viral video of him racing through Manhattan at a high speed.
“The U.S. legal system has failed me,” said Tang, who believes the video only warranted a traffic summons.
But a jury and city officials disagreed.
“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."
The video, posted Aug. 29, 2013, shows the car traveling southbound on Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive from 116th Street to Battery Park and then up West Street back to 116th Street. Along the 26.4-mile loop, the vehicle stops for six red lights.
According to a criminal complaint, Tang claimed he never went over 100 mph and ran only one red light at a pedestrian crosswalk.
“As far as my driving goes, if you believe it’s risky, go on YouTube and watch the unedited, unsped up, undoctored video and then ask yourself, do you believe what I had done was reckless,” Tang said.
Tang also slammed police claiming they questioned his wife and threatened her with aiding and abetting a criminal. The NYPD and the District Attorney's office would not comment on Tang's claims.
Tang said his only goal was “to make a cool video” and that he takes full responsibility for his actions, but that he felt his trial was "rigged."
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Tang is a Canadian and has lived in New York for several years with his wife. Prosecutors said he has previous traffic violations and that he admitted to once driving 4,000 miles in 38 hours.
Tang faces up to one year in prison. He said he does not plan to return to the U.S. and that he will appeal his conviction from Canada.
