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Published: 2012-06-11 12:35:00
Updated: 2012-06-11 18:55:05

Cellphone video captures police chase down I-440


Sarah Aimee Carden
Sarah Aimee Carden
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A man who captured on his cellphone the police chase of a wrong-way driver on a Raleigh highway says police want to use it as evidence against a Wake Forest woman blamed for a fatal wreck.

Raleigh police say Sarah Aimee Carden, 23, was driving eastbound on Interstate 440 West, near Hillsborough Street, shortly before 4:30 a.m. Sunday when Junior Tshimpangila Bajani, trying to avoid a collision with her, crashed into a guardrail.

The 30-year-old was killed. His passenger, Adrina Angelica Moore, was taken to a local hospital and later released.

Akram Youssef said he was leaving work when he captured police pursuing Carden's Acura for several miles.

"This guy's going to kill somebody, seriously," he says in the video.

Minutes before Youssef captured the video, a motorist called 911 reporting a wreck caused by a speeding car, with its headlights turned off.

A state Highway Patrol trooper eventually stopped Carden several miles away on I-440 near Six Forks Road. Her blood alcohol concentration was 0.16.

Carden faces charges of felony hit-and-run resulting in death, felony serious injury by vehicle, felony fleeing to elude arrest, careless and reckless driving, driving while impaired and traveling the wrong way on a dual-lane highway.

She was in the Wake County jail Monday under a $152,500 bond.

Bajani was a student at Wake Technical Community College and had moved to North Carolina from Africa three years ago, his brother, Jethro Bajani, said.

He was coming home from a wedding when the wreck occurred.

Jethro Bajani says he is heartbroken over his loss but prays for the person who police say is responsible.

"God allowed it to happen," Jethro Bajani said. "It's in His hands."


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Dear All,

Here is the schedule in loving memory of Tshipangila Bajani Junior 1. Friday 22nd from 6:00PM to 8:00PM ==> Viewing at Benson Memorial Methodist Church, 4706 Creedmoor Rd, Raleigh, NC 27612

2. Saturday 23rd from:8:00AM to 9:30AM ==>Viewing at Benson Memorial Methodist Church, 4706 Creedmoor Rd, Raleigh, NC 27612

9:30AM to 12:00PM

12:00PM ==>Burial at Mount Hope Cemetery 120 Prospect Ave Raleigh, NC 27603

Thank you. For the Bajani's Family Nzinga Sukidi 919-649-2950

If you have knowledge that a relative or friend drives while drunk, do whatever you can to stop them because they won't do it themselves. Alcoholics refuse to think past their own selfish needs and will not listen to reason. Take their keys, call the police, disable their car. The next person that they hit and kill on the highway could be you, your child, your parents, your friends. Take their keys and disable their car. The police may not arrive in time to stop them.

" I have a brother who is an alcoholic and have knowledge of him driving while impaired. Everytime I see him riding the roads, I panic and wonder if he is drinking. Also, when I hear a siren, I automatically get a sick feeling in my stomach wondering if he has hit someone. " jetset

If you have knowledge that your brother is an alcoholic and you see him driving yet do nothing, then you are basically an accomplice to a crime, in my opinion, if he hits and kills someone because you didn't do anything to stop him. Every time you see him driving, do something--flag him down and take his keys, disable his car, do something! call *HP and report a drunk driver, go in person to his local police station and tell them he's driving drunk and ask them to arrest him every time that they see him. If he gets enough DWI's, he can lose his license. Since you cringe whenever you hear a siren, you expect him to kill someone, you expect that it is only a matter of time. Stop him !

People usually know long beforehand that if they are going to a bar, an event, a friend's house, etc. that they are going to be drinking. Yet most people don't plan ahead and get a designated driver, hire a taxi, pay a friend to take them home, stay at a relative's house, motel, etc. With just a little forethought and planning, this guy's life could have been saved. There is absolutely NO excuse for driving drunk ! For those who commented that someone should have stopped her from driving, people rarely step up to do so, including friends, strangers, bar staff etc. that see them walk out the door sloppy drunk. Did the guy with the cell phone call the highway patrol first before filming? Probably not.

@SteelThis on behalf of the family..we would appreciate any help..we lost our brother and its tragic

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