A 21-year-old Toronto man has been found guilty of a number of charges after his Range Rover smashed into a pole with enough force to instantly kill his passenger and tear the SUV in half.
Oliver Karafa on Wednesday was found guilty of a number of charges, including impaired driving, criminal negligence causing death and dangerous driving. The crash happened more than two years ago on Mount Pleasant Road, near Eglinton Avenue, at around 2:30 a.m.
According to residents in the area, the single-vehicle collision sounded like a plane crash. Pieces of debris were scattered more than 100 metres from the impact, and the vehicle was ripped in half. One end of the SUV was found wrapped around the pole, while the other had flung across the road to the other end of the street.
Karafa's passenger, David Chiang , 24, was ejected from the vehicle. He was killed instantly at the scene of the crash, police said.
According to investigators, the needle of the speedometer in the luxury SUV was pinned at 135 km/h. The posted speed limit in that area is 50 km/h.
Police said Karafa at the time was driving with more than four times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Austin Delaney
