WALLED LAKE, Mich. – Exclusive video Monday night shows teens fleeing during a Walled Lake police chase from last March that destroyed a family and gives new context to the needless and terrible crime, leaving one teenager dead and two others facing felony charges.
It all happened March 22 when a new Jeep Gladiator led Walled Lake police on a brief chase. The ensuing accident killed one child, injuring her sister and mother.
And all at the hands of a young man with no business behind the wheel and his 19-year-old friend Gavin Kassab, who decided to share the incident on social media.
It all happened at dusk when a 15-year-old jumped behind the wheel of a vehicle, a 19-year-old jumped into the passenger seat, and they took off, attracting police attention.
They fired up Facebook Live and tragically altered lives forever in mere seconds.
A Walled Lake police officer watched the Jeep Gladiator turned left through a red light at Pontiac Trail and Maple Road.
The officer hit his lights, but there was no siren. As the jeep screamed away, the officer gives up the chase, only to discover the horrifying accident moments later.
The dash cam showed Local 4 an SUV with its windshield wipers flapping in the breeze. Two other vehicles were also wrecked, including a Honda Fit that 13-year-old Piper Carrothers rode in.
The Clifford Smart Middle School student suffered serious injuries and later died at the hospital. Carrothers mom and 10-year-old sister also suffered serious injuries but survived.
The officer reported seeing a passenger taking video out the window. The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office says he was Kassab from Commerce Township.
Kassab was charged with felony fleeing and eluding, causing death. A guilty verdict could bring 15 years in prison.
“It is a heinous crime, and we are taking it very seriously,” said Chief Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor David Williams. “In fact, we charged these two defendants with the highest possible charges under the law.”
The unidentified 15-year-old behind the wheel faces the same charges (felony fleeing and eluding, causing death) but as a juvenile which could mean no jail time if convicted.
“It’s among the worst cases like this I’ve ever seen to be fleeing from the police to be recording it, to be laughing, and then to hit and kill someone,” Williams said. “It’s terrible.”
Officials say after the crash, the 19-year-old encouraged the unidentified 15-year-old, who didn’t have any driver’s education or a learner’s permit to run away from the accident scene.
The 15-year-old will be in court Tuesday (May 16).
A probable cause conference for Kassab is scheduled for May 24.
