Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The 16-year-old male driver of the fatal crash on the Rte. 33 inbound ramp to the Scajaquada Expressway this past Monday was in Family Court on Friday for arraignment on one count of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree (Class "E" felony) and one count of Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle in the Third Degree (Class "A" misdemeanor).
Hours before the accident took place Monday morning around 6:45 a.m. ET, it is alleged that the Kia Sportage involved in the crash was stolen from Marine Drive in the City of Buffalo.
At the time of the accident, the adolescent offender was operating the vehicle and carrying with him five other teenage passengers. All five passengers were ejected from the vehicle upon impact, with three of the passengers - a 17-year-old male, 16-year-old male and a 14-year-old female - killed at the scene. A fourth passenger, a 19-year-old male, later died at ECMC.
The fifth passenger, a 14-year-old female, remains hospitalized at ECMC with serious physical injuries.
The adolescent offender was treated for minor injuries and released from the hospital.
"I get that the optics are not good when I have four dead teenagers, and this kid is out there playing video games right now. So I recognize that, and I'm not happy about that, but in this particular case, for the time being, that's the way it has to be," said Erie County District Attorney John Flynn following Friday's arraignment. "That's the way it has to be, because I need to gather additional evidence in order to potentially charge more serious crimes."
The crash remains an active investigation at this time, with the additional charges that Flynn mentioned potentially being filed against the accused offender after this case has been presented to the Grand Jury.
"The judge gave a next court appearance for Dec. 12. I anticipate the next court appearance will be sooner than that," Flynn said. "We handed the defendant's attorney today the 190.50 notice, means that we have the Grand Jury scheduled. So the next step is the Grand Jury investigation, and the next step will be to evaluate other potential charges and to go forward from there."
The adolescent offender's next scheduled appearance in Family Court on Monday, Dec. 12 at 11 a.m. ET will be for further proceedings before Judge Brenda Freedman.
The accused youth driver of the accident was also released under supervision with an ankle monitor device. Flynn admits it is the first time he's asked for release under supervision in a case like this.
"The judges in City Court every day want to give everyone R.U.S., and I'm arguing against that all the time. So it's kind of hypocritical of me to argue against R.U.S. every day, and then to argue for it on certain occasions," Flynn explained. "But I was hypocritical today, you can argue for release under supervision for non-qualifying offenses. So we argued for R.U.S. today, we got an ankle monitor, we got a curfew to 7:30 p.m., and he has to go to school."
Judge Freedman has also issued a temporary order of protection on behalf of the surviving victim, as requested by the DA's Office.
"I do not want him talking to her. So an order of protection is issued on her behalf," Flynn said. "She's in a hospital right now. Her family wanted that, I wanted that, obviously, and so he is precluded from contacting her in any manner or form."
While Flynn cannot 100% confirm that the vehicle was stolen as part of the Kia TikTok Challenge, he says he's "99% certain" it was, as the trend is spreading across the country and has now reached the City of Buffalo.
"We are seeing more-and-more Kias being stolen over the course of the past summer and the past few months than we have ever seen," he said. "There have been lawsuits, actually, in other parts of the country filed against Kia for their inability to protect the vehicles as they should. As far as I know, no lawsuits have been filed it here yet in New York State, but that is something that I am willing to talk to the Attorney General's Office on and look into going forward, because this is becoming a problem in stealing these Kias."
Hear more from Friday's press briefing with District Attorney Flynn in the player below:
