June 25, 2001


Two Die in NY Car Drag Race

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.P. INDEXES: TOP STORIES | NEWS | SPORTS | BUSINESS | TECHNOLOGY | ENTERTAINMENT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


Filed at 3:08 p.m. ET

OCEANSIDE, N.Y. (AP) -- The street where a pair of drag-racing sports cars careened out of control, killing two people including an innocent motorist, is a popular spot for racing, residents say.

Sunday's wreck left the cars unrecognizable twisted lumps of metal, with debris strewn along the roadway.

Residents in this Long Island suburb said racing, and wrecks, were common on that strip of road.

``It's known for racing,'' resident Stu Nagel said. ``Almost every week, there's an accident.''

Witnesses told police that the drivers of a Lamborghini and a Corvette were speeding and weaving in and out of traffic for several blocks before the Lamborghini smashed head-on into a Volvo.

Killed in the crash were Michael Vasapolli, 30, who was driving the 2001 Lamborghini, and the Volvo's driver, Glenn Jacofsky, 43.

The Corvette, which had a vanity plate that read, ``LOV2XLR8'' (Love to Accelerate), lost control and hit a parked school bus, police said. Its driver, Kevin Hart, 27, was treated for minor injuries. He was charged with two counts of manslaughter and was arraigned Monday, police said.

Hart, a plumber, has three speeding convictions dating to 1991, said Lt. Detective Frank Guidice, a spokesman for the Nassau County police. ``His actions contributed to the death of these other people,'' Guidice said.

``These cars would not have been racing if he did not consent to race,'' he said.

According to police, Vasapolli crossed into the northbound lanes to pass another car but could not get back into the southbound side fast enough to avoid hitting Jacofsky. Vasapolli, who worked in a family construction business in Brooklyn, had seven speeding convictions dating back to 1989.

Jacofsky's wife, Amy Jacofsky, and Vasapolli's wife, Karen Mauro, were both taken to hospitals with injuries that were described as non-life-threatening.

Police said there was no indication that the drag race had been inspired by the movie ``The Fast and the Furious,'' which opened Friday, but interviews with family members are continuing.

 

I wonder how their wives feel?

 

This is a very sad and tragic story that could easily been avoided if two men near or just past their thirties had acted like adults and not spoiled shit heads. i am pissed off!!!

My heart and prayers go out to the family in the volvo.

 

my friends grandfather lives next door to one of the people in the accident

 

Usually common sense takes over...especially when your wife is in the car (lambo driver had his wife with him)....

Hope that doesn't happen again.

I personally have not crossed into the opposite direction of traffic in a "street race". Some guy in an Acura took the berm one time though.

I am sure the "fast and furious" will get blamed 100% for this!

Scot

 

Their wives set them up.

 

Street Racing is not the smartest thing in the world to do ever, although I wont say I havent ever done it.

To do this with a passenger in the car is STUPID. I have never even considered this with a passenger. They become a participant without being asked. This should never happen. I am glad the wives got out alive.

Some are not so lucky. Of course, any accident with a vette that doesnt end up with dead people is a lucky one. I am 0-4 when I was an EMT going to accidents involving vettes. No survivors in 4 scenes. Not pretty.

If you want to see if you can beat somebody, and it cant wait, go somewhere away from the rest of the sane people so only YOU get killed.

 

since the school shootings have slowed down and the president's daughters have been sober for a few days i guess street racing is the next logical step for the press.

 

my mother's college roomate's half-brother's uncle was in the korean war.