Markham man charged after allegedly leading police on high-speed chase

A Markham man is facing several charges after allegedly doing doughnuts in the middle of an intersection in Pickering, in view of a Durham police chopper, and leading authorities on a high-speed chase.

Durham police say the incident stared with nearly 100 vehicles and pedestrians blocking the intersection of Altona Road and Finch Avenue, at around 2:40 a.m. on Sunday.

According to Durham police, many of the vehicles were spinning their tires.

Video of the incident, which was captured on Durham Regional Police’s Air 1 chopper camera, shows one vehicle doing doughnuts in the middle of the intersection. The vehicle creates circular skid marks, visible to the camera.

A crowd of people are seen gathering around the vehicle, using their phones to record the maneuver.

“Some of those people in the intersection were doing doughnuts, spinning their tires, doing smoke shows while others were standing outside filming the events,” Const. George Tudos told CTV News Toronto. “It’s very dangerous.”

A resident who lives near the intersection said the vehicles were making a lot of noise, enough to “wake him from his dreams.”

“There were cars spinning in the centre and going one after the other, just spinning and spinning,” said Veno Joachim. “It was just like a movie. It was crazy.”

Multiple officers responded to the scene, at which time, police say, most of the vehicles dispersed. Two of the vehicles fled northbound on Altona Road at high rates of speed, police said.

“Police located and attempted to stop one vehicle but discontinued due to safety concerns,” Durham police said in a news release issued Tuesday.

Durham police’s Air1 camera followed one of the vehicles as it merged on to Highway 401, travelling eastbound at speeds up to 173 kilometers an hour.

The vehicle was eventually located by police at a gas station near Morningside Road and Sheppard Avenue.

“Police cruisers boxed the vehicle in but the suspect vehicle rammed one of the vehicles in attempts to escape. The driver and passengers were arrested,” police said.

The vehicle, which was described by police as a grey BMW, was seized.

Tony Chau, 24, of Markham has been charged with failing to stop for police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, failing to comply with recognizance and racing a motor vehicle.

The passengers of the vehicle were released unconditionally, police said.

None of the charges have been tested in court.

Durham police are asking anyone with information about the street racing incident to contact investigators at 1-888-579-1520 ext. 2521 or to reach out to Crime Stoppers anonymously.