Indian American teen crushes to death another diaspora member, arrested

Miami, Jan 14 (IANS) A 16-year-old Indian American teenager, Madhav Sood, was arrested earlier this month for crushing to death another Indian, Florida resident Priya Pachauri, while racing his pickup truck.

Pachauri, 31, was struck and killed by the speeding truck on December 8 and police have determined that the driver of the car was racing at the time of the incident.

Sood was arrested last week in Lake Mary on allegations of striking and killing a woman who was on a sidewalk while he was street racing.

Lake Mary police said Sood was arrested on a charge of vehicular homicide in the death of Pachauri.

Police said Pachauri was walking on the sidewalk along Lake Emma Road when she was hit.

Police said that Sood was racing another car at the time of the crash, according to a WFTV Orlando report.

Sood had three other teenage passengers in the truck with him when it veered off the road, hit Pachauri and took out a section of the guard rail.

The Lake Mary Police Department said Sood was driving recklessly and well above the posted speed limit of 45 mph at the time.

Pachauri's husband is in India.

None of the passengers in the pickup were injured despite the vehicle overturning from the crash.

Sood was taken to a juvenile justice center and charged with vehicular homicide.

Via social media, Pachauri's brother-in-law has been demanding justice in the wake of what he calls a "brutal crime," WESH.com reported.

The driver's "irresponsible behavior should be punished," wrote Dewansh Pachauri in the post, Indiawest.com reported.

Should the teen gain release from custody, police are asking that he be placed on electronic monitoring and "not be permitted to operate any and all motor vehicles," the WESH.com report said.