Two Flushing teens, including a 16-year-old unlicensed driver, will be charged with manslaughter after a 12-year-old passenger died in the days following a drag racing wreck in Auburndale.
David Lakhchakov, 16, and David Badalov, 18, were arrested after the crash on Francis Lewis Boulevard and 47th Avenue on Wednesday night, August 12.
According to Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown, Badalov and Lakhchakov were racing upwards of 76 miles per hour along Francis Lewis Boulevard in the vicinity of Weeks Lane, a 35-miles-per-hour zone.
Badalov lost control of his 2004 BMW and slammed into the 2009 Lexus being driven by Lakhchakov and then struck a parked 2004 Ford van, Brown alleged.
“There’s a lot of racing on this street,” said local resident Joan Casey, shortly after the crash. He noted that, “this accident was worse than others.”
Another area resident, who asked not to be identified, told The Queens Courier “He [Lakhchakov] felt so bad, so emotional – he covered his face and screamed for help for his cousins.”
“They [first responders] had to cut open the top [of the BMW] to remove the boy,” he continued. “The back of the BMW had been crushed.”
Badalov and two passengers in the BMW – 18-year-old Illya Ishakov and 12-year-old Aviv Babayev – were taken to New York Hospital Queens.
Babayev, who was sitting in the backseat, was the most seriously injured. According to DA Brown, he suffered two broken femurs, a broken pelvis, severe trauma to his torso and head, and swelling to his brain.
He succumbed to his injuries over the weekend.
The pair had been charged with reckless endangerment, assault, reckless driving and speeding, with the 16-year-old Lakhchakov also charged as an unlicensed driver. With the felony charge of second degree manslaughter, the youths face 15 years in prison.
They were arraigned before Judge James P. Griffiths and released after posting $250,000 bond. Both are due back in court on Friday, August 28.
“Drag racing is a serious threat to public safety. Immature young drivers get behind the wheel and turn our streets into speedways. Their reckless conduct endangers lives,” DA Brown said, adding, “Such illegal speed contests have no place on the streets of our city.”
–with additional reporting by KELDY ORTIZ
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