One of Winnipeg's worst serial auto thieves was allegedly driving a stolen Hummer when it broadsided a small car, killing a 47-year-old man, at high speeds last week, police say.
Police spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said the suspect, now in custody, is a Level 4 offender in the Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy and on probation for previous auto-theft related convictions.
This means the 18-year-old man would have been subject to ongoing checks by police and probation officers, Michalyshen said.
Michalyshen was unaware of the last time WATSS members checked on the man, who was arrested Monday for his alleged role in Friday's death of Zdzislaw Andrzejczak. Two alleged passengers are being sought.
Police have upped the ante and charged the man with manslaughter, which was once a rare charge in such a case.
However, it's the second time in as many years Winnipeg police have laid the charge in the wake of a fatality involving a stolen vehicle and it has Andrzejczak's family and observers applauding investigators and the Crown.
"This is the right thing. This is not an accident. It's time to grow up and be punished," said Jolanta Andrzejczak, the victim's widow, yesterday.
Given the charge, the fatality may be counted as Winnipeg's 29th homicide of 2009.
She said she's relieved police have apprehended one of three suspects in the hit-and-run. "I feel a little bit of peace inside," she said.
An adult conviction of manslaughter carries a maximum -- but rarely used -- sentence of life in prison.
Zdzislaw Andrzejczak was just blocks from home when the stolen Hummer crashed into his car at Alfred Avenue and Andrews Street.
Police said the westbound Hummer may have been travelling more than 100 km/h.
It blew through a stop sign on Alfred and crashed into the passenger side of Andrzejczak's car as he travelled north on Andrews.
Investigators identified the alleged driver using video surveillance and witness descriptions, Michalyshen said.
Some time before the two-vehicle crash, the hulking sport utility vehicle was driven to a store, where the driver was recorded in and around the vehicle.
In addition to manslaughter, the man is charged with criminal negligence causing death, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, theft over $5,000, and four counts of failing to comply with a sentence.
At 16, the accused and four other males were arrested in March 2008 after stealing a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. He was later convicted of one count of possession of property obtained by crime. Manitoba Public Insurance sued the males, who were ordered to pay more than $17,000 in restitution for the trashed truck.
chris.kitching@sunmedia.ca
