Councilman retracts statement, no arrests, no deaths

UPDATE: This story has been updated after Lansing City Council member Peter Spadafore retracted his statement regarding the street racing crash that occurred on April 24. LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — At-Large Lansing City Council member Peter Spadafore has retracted his statement regarding the street racing crash, which claimed that arrests had been made and people had died. "I misunderstood a conversation with the mayor. No arrests have been made to my knowledge. I made a mistake, and I apologize for the error and any confusion this may have caused," said Spadafore today to 6 News. Spadafore also shared a statement regarding the retraction in a Facebook post. Spadafore said in a Facebook post shared on April 26, "My heart breaks for the lives lost and for all those impacted. We cannot accept this kind of senseless loss in our community. We owe it to the victims and their families to act boldly and urgently to make our streets safer." Lansing Police Chief Robert Backus confirmed that no arrests have been made and that no one connected to the crash had died in a text conversation with Lansing City Council President Ryan Kost. "One driver is still critical and may not survive. Second driver needs to have reconstruction, a final injury status and all medical reports before we can present charges to the prosecutor. This takes some time and we have to get the prosecutor on board. Already talked and he is willing to review felony charges but needs all the facts. Otherwise all we have is a misdemeanor for drag racing," said Chief Backus. Spadafore says he has met with Mayor Andy Schor and discussed ways to crack down on reckless driving in Lansing. Mayor Schor also took to Facebook yesterday to express his frustration with the actions of those who caused the crash. "As I continue to talk to residents and LPD, I am still so angry that some selfish, reckless drivers created an unsafe situation that led to such a horrible accident on S MLK, inflicting so much harm to innocent bystanders." On the night of April 24, first responders from multiple jurisdictions were called out to the scene of a five-car crash on Martin Luther King Blvd. Police say the crash happened due to two drivers racing each other at high speed and crashing into a vehicle making a legal turn from Pierce Rd. Those three cars then crashed into two other vehicles. 13 people were taken to the hospital after the crash. Two of them were ejected from their vehicle(s). As of April 25, the two were listed in critical condition. Police are not releasing any names of those involved at this time, or who or how many people were in each vehicle, including the child.