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Best friends die in high-speed crash
By LEANORA MINAI Revised January 2, 2002
© St. Petersburg Times,
He also loved to drive fast, once receiving a speeding ticket after being clocked at 92 mph. That penchant for speed cost him and his best friend their lives early Friday on Gandy Boulevard. After a brief chase by a Pinellas County sheriff's deputy, Khammanivong, 22, lost control of his car and crashed into a steel pole at 100 mph. He and his passenger, 19-year-old Lucky Soukkaseum, died instantly. "These teenagers need to understand the reality of their actions, and the aftermath," said sheriff's Cpl. Glenn J. Luben, who is investigating. The pursuit of the St. Petersburg men began about 3:40 a.m. A deputy tried to stop Khammanivong for reckless driving in the parking lot of the Friendship Trail Bridge on the north side of Gandy Boulevard. The deputy, Matthew Ware, ended up chasing Khammanivong about 1 1/2 miles. But Ware stopped the pursuit 1.2 miles before the crash. Ware followed policy and does not face disciplinary action, sheriff's officials said. While deputies investigated leads Friday, including a report that the crash might be alcohol-related, two families planned funerals.
At Khammanivong's house, family members set out a traditional Buddhist offering for the youngest of six children. A candle burned near a plate of white rice and chicken soup. "That's his favorite," said Khammanivong's sister, Molly Vichit, 25. At Soukkaseum's house, friends gathered in the front yard while family members contacted a sister in Hawaii. "I guess I should have spent more time with him and stuff," said Soukkaseum's brother, Sithak Soukkaseum, 22. The events started to unfold before dawn Friday when the deputy drove to the parking lot of the Friendship Trail Bridge to investigate a complaint about juveniles. Khammanivong, who had been cited for speeding on three previous occasions, drove toward the deputy at a high rate of speed in his 1997 Honda Prelude. He forced the deputy off the road, said Luben, the investigator. The deputy made a U-turn in the parking lot and followed Khammanivong onto Gandy Boulevard. He turned on his warning lights and siren for a traffic stop, but Khammanivong accelerated. For 11/2 miles, the deputy drove 80 mph to 90 mph to catch up with Khammanivong but could not. The deputy was told by his supervisor, Cpl. Guy Spiros, to stop the pursuit, so the deputy shut off his lights and siren and slowed to normal speed. Khammanivong kept going and passed a truck driver, 48-year-old David Balaity, who told authorities that he did not see a deputy in pursuit and lost sight of Khammanivong's car at a curve, officials said. After the curve, Khammanivong lost control of his car, plowed through a construction zone, hit a light pole and then crashed head-on into a steel sign pole east of the Fourth Street N intersection. The engine block of the Honda was crushed into the driver's compartment. There were no witnesses to the crash, Luben said. "Did he oversteer?" he asked. "We don't know. We can only presume he couldn't handle the speed of the vehicle and maintain control of it." During their investigation Friday, deputies found two empty 24-packs of beer in the parking lot where the men were socializing with friends before the crash. Khammanivong came to the United States with his family from their native Laos more than 10 years ago. Both men lived with their parents in St. Petersburg. Khammanivong graduated from Northeast High School, where he wrestled. He had been working as a telemarketer and recently earned a bartending license. He wanted to work at a club in Ybor City. "He was just living his young life," said his brother, Alounsy Khammanivong, 23. Soukkaseum, the passenger, was Khammanivong's best friend. He graduated from St. Petersburg High School last year and worked in the parts division of Autoway Chevrolet in Clearwater. "He liked to hang out with his friends and crack jokes," Sithak Soukkaseum said. "He loved to talk about all the women he loved."
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