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Police arrest second teen in fatal Hummer crash

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 12/17/2009 2:12 PM

Zdzislaw Andrzejczak, 47, was killed in last week's crash. (JOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)

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WINNIPEG - Police have arrested a 17-year-old member of Winnipeg’s most prolific family of car thieves in their ongoing probe of last week’s deadly stolen Hummer crash, the Free Press has learned.

The boy – who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act – was picked up Wednesday evening. He has been charged with several offences including manslaughter, despite the fact he wasn’t the alleged driver of the vehicle which slammed into a car, killing 47-year-old Zdzislaw Andrzejczak.

Police believe an 18-year-old man was behind the wheel. He was arrested Monday and remains in custody. He has previously been linked to a 2008 stole vehicle crash in which a Winnipeg cab driver was killed.

Police are still searching for the third occupant of the Hummer, who is alleged to be a cousin of the 17-year-old.

The 17-year-old boy and his three cousins, ages 17, 19 and 21, have racked up more than 200 convictions in the past five years but clearly haven't been deterred by the criminal consequences. They include numerous counts of car theft, dangerous driving, fleeing the police and possessing stolen goods, along with dozens of court breaches.

The family’s lawyer, Lori Van Dongen, told the Free Press the youngest brother recently got out of jail. His girlfriend hung herself while he was in custody, leaving behind their infant child, who is now being raised by her family.

His 19-year-old brother has also been out of custody, but the 21-year-old is in Stony Mountain penitentiary serving a five-year sentence for crimes including a high-speed police chase in which he drove over boulevards, ran stop signs and red lights and drove into oncoming traffic while going more than 30 km/h over the speed limit.

Police sources say the family members routinely laugh off their arrests and joke about how fast they can drive their stolen cars in an attempt to evade arrest.

The 17-year-old brother once told a probation officer at the age of 12 how it was "fun" to drive a stolen car at high speeds towards oncoming traffic.

The three brothers have four other siblings under the age of 13 and police expect to be dealing with them soon, based on the family history.
Manitoba Public Insurance has obtained more than $200,000 in judgments against the family members, including one for $100,000 in 2007 following one of the city's worst property- crime sprees in recent history that also involved all of the boys.

In the span of just a few weeks, beginning in late 2004, the group was responsible for stealing five cars, three of which were written off, and damaging 38 others, including a police car that was destroyed in a high-speed crash.

They also sent one car smashing through the window of an empty River Heights apartment block by pinning down the accelerator with a brick, an incident the realtor handling the building described as an act of "terrorism." The group also left numerous senior citizens in tears by targeting cars in an underground parkade in North Kildonan for senseless acts of vandalism on Boxing Day 2004.

MPI officials hope that by gaining the ability to garnishee any potential future earnings and assets of these individuals, a much stronger message will be sent to teen criminals than they are currently getting from the courts and the Youth Criminal Justice Act. But MPI admits it's possible they will never see a single penny.

The family's mother, a crack cocaine addict on welfare, has previously told the Free Press her children are "not scared" of the criminal justice system and she blamed the police for going after them.

"I think the police are just putting a whole bunch of stuff on them. And they beat my boys up real good when they arrested them," she said in the 2005 interview.

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