South by Southwest driver charged

Austin, Texas authorities have charged 21-year-old Rashad Charjuan Owens with two counts of capital murder and multiple counts of aggravated assault with a motor vehicle after he ploughed a reportedly stolen car into a crowd of music fans outside a South by Southwest festival venue on Wednesday night (12Mar14), killing two people. The Texas native was arrested early on Thursday (13Mar14) as he attempted to escape on foot after finally crashing his vehicle into a van.
His action cost two people their lives and left 23 others with injuries, some serious.
Austin Chief of Police Art Acevedo insists Owens’ actions were “intentional”.
Rapper Tyler, the Creator’s late-night gig at The Mohawk Club was cancelled as a result of the tragedy.
Reports suggest the Toyota Owens was driving at the time of the incident was reported stolen to Killeen Police Department on Thursday morning.
The crash happened as Owens fled a drink driver checkpoint at high speeds and lost control of his vehicle.
Acevedo says, “As a result of this person’s reckless and wilful disregard for the safety of the people, we have two individuals who are now dead.
“You cannot stop a person who decides, rather than face potential drunk driving charges, to continue at a high rate of speed, go around a uniformed officer forcing him to run out of the way, then at a high rate of speed show total disregard for the sanctity of human life.”