Deadly SUV slipped from police grasp

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This article was published 31/03/2008 (6372 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg police attemped to stop a speeding, stolen SUV moments before it ran a red light and killed an innocent cab driver, the Free Press has learned.

The vehicle — containing four youths — had been spotted driving erratically in the downtown area just before 3:30 a.m. Saturday.

Sources told the Free Press that a cruiser car tried to pull it over but the SUV sped away. A second car — which may also have been stolen — was nearby but also took off.

Police broadcast a description of both vehicles over their radio system, asking other officers in the area to look out for the suspects.

No chase was ever initiated and it appears officers lost sight of the cars.

It was just a few minutes later that multiple 911 calls began pouring in about a crash at Portage Avenue and Maryland Street.

A Duffy’s cab heading south on Maryland had been T-boned at the intersection by a speeding Chevrolet Avalanche going west on Portage.

Witnesses told the Free Press the vehicle was travelling about 120 kilometres per hour — twice the speed limit.

Antonio ‘Tony’ Lanzellotti, 55, the driver of the taxi, suffered massive injuries and was pronounced dead at hospital.

A passenger in the cab escaped serious injury.

“He’s very lucky. Getting hit a few inches different either way and the result would have been much different,” a police source said.

The young driver of the SUV was ejected. He was crawling on the road when another vehicle — a red or maroon Dodge Neon — hit him. The male and female occupants stopped briefly, then drove away.

The teen was rushed to hospital in critical condition. Three other young occupants of the SUV suffered serious injuries and were also hospitalized. All four were listed in fair condition Sunday night.

Police said the Avalanche had been reported stolen on Friday.

“This is a terrible, terrible thing,” Rocco Lanzelotti, father of Tony, said Sunday night while relatives and friends gathered at his Grant Park-area home to grieve.

Lanzelotti said his son, who had worked for Duffy’s for two months, had worked with the Comissionaires Manitoba before driving a cab.

Lanzelotti said Tony was the oldest of three brothers. He is survived by his wife and 28-year-old son. Lanzelotti said the family is unable to make funeral arrangements until an autopsy has been completed.

This is the third case in Winnipeg in the past 10 months in which an innocent person was killed by a stolen vehicle.

However, the tragedies have come at a time when auto theft rates have dropped substantially, reaching lows not seen since the late 1990s.

Anyone with information on the fatal crash — or the Neon that was involved — is asked to call police at 986-6271.

— With files from Aldo Santin

www.mikeoncrime.com