Accused fought before fatal crash
Car sought after bloody brawl near bar
Sherri Zickefoose and Emma Poole, Calgary Herald
Published: Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Two earlier run-ins between New Year's Eve party-goers and unwanted guests kept heated tempers brewing, escalating into a terrifying and deadly end, police say.
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Raminder Dhadda, 24, was killed instantly early Sunday when an alleged party-crasher speeding down Kensington Crescent in a van plowed into a crowd wandering away from a private New Year's Eve party for 100 at Sam's Bar and Grill.
Police are now confirming a fight between the accused and the group sparked the reckless and deadly ride the wrong way down the one-way street at 2:45 a.m. Sunday.
"We were the last ones to tell these guys to leave," said Lakhy Gill, one of the party guests. "They were threatening to come back. They even said they would come back with guns. He didn't leave quietly."
More charges are pending against an 18-year-old Calgary man after two new victims came forward Monday, according to Sgt. Doug McIlwraith of the traffic unit. Their injuries are considered minor. Police have already laid 11 criminal charges, including impaired driving causing death. Four others were seriously hurt; two are in intensive care at Foothills hospital with broken bones and other traumatic injuries.
The man was turned away at the bar's door about 11 p.m. because the accused, known to some inside, was regarded as a troublemaker. Punches flew outside, and some men from the private party told the unwanted guests not to return.
For the next two hours, the celebration continued, but the man and three friends returned armed with tire irons and wooden sticks, said police.
When party-goers were trickling out of the bar and onto the street about 2:30 a.m., another fight began.
Blood was spilled during the fight with weapons, but the man's outnumbered friends turned tail and began fleeing the scene in a red Honda Civic.
The crowd turned on the car, smashing windows and pounding dents into the metal as it rolled past. Police are searching for the car and want to talk to the people travelling in it.
"(The accused) was part of that group," said McIlwraith. "He saw their vehicle being sieged. He was concerned for his well-being and he wanted to get out of that area."
That's when police say the 18-year-old got behind the wheel and raced down the street without regard for the crowd in the path of his parents' van. The headlights were not on.
People who heard the van's engine revving screamed to warn others to get out of the way, but Dhadda froze, according to her younger sister Simmi, 17.
"He was coming so fast, there wasn't time to get out of the way," she said, adding she ducked out of way when a struck man soared past her head.
Dhadda was hit on the driver's side, and the van's wheels crushed her.
"I heard someone yell 'Rami's down, Rami's not moving,' " said Dhadda's brother Raj, 28, who watched the van hit the crowd and saw bodies fly through the air like rag dolls.
He didn't realize his sister was one of the victims at first.
"I went over and looked at her. There was nothing in her eyes; the life was gone."
His friend Parminder Maharar, 29, and Karen Gill, 23, were also struck and catapulted into a parked Ford SUV. The force of their flying bodies caved the car's side in and shattered a back window. Both victims are in Foothills hospital's intensive care unit with traumatic injuries.
The violent blow knocked Maharar, who weighs about 250 pounds, upside down and out of his shoes, police say. Both of his legs are broken, and his liver is damaged.
Raj ran back inside the bar and grabbed jackets to put under his crumpled friend's head.
"He was trying to get up, he was covered in blood. He was moaning and breathing pretty oddly. I told him to stay down, just breath, the ambulance is coming," he said.
Gill's aunt, Karin Gill, said almost every bone in her niece's body was broken.
She suffered bleeding in her brain, a fractured neck and facial bones, bruised lungs, broken pelvis, and arm and leg fractures.
She remains unconscious but is breathing on her own. On Monday, she wiggled her fingers and toes.
Gill, who was at the party with her niece, said she was unrecognizable after the crash.
"Her face was covered in blood. I recognized her by her boots," she said.
Gill was set to graduate from Marvel College in April, and worked part-time as a server at Chili's restaurant in the north. Her dream is to become a hairstylist.
"She is a fighter," said her aunt.
Dhadda's brother and sister describe the night scene as horrifying.
"It was absolute chaos. People screaming, people lying on the ground, blood everywhere. It was a very sobering moment," said Raj.
One of the injured men, Inder Tumber, was released from hospital Sunday.
In shock, and mourning the loss of his friend, Tumber told the Herald he has re-evaluated his life in the 48 hours since the incident. Long-term plans have been scrapped, said Tumber.
"The plan was to be a paramedic, but I don't think I can do that anymore," said the soft-spoken man.
Dhadda's funeral is planned for noon Sunday at the Calgary Crematorium Chapel at 32nd Avenue and 4th Street N.W.
Police say the accused 18-year-old is being co-operative. Officers arrested him after he tried to outrun police. The bloodied and heavily damaged black van was eventually forced off the road on 16th Avenue N.W.
Samrat Ramnik Dhuna, 18, of Calgary has been charged with criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm, impaired and dangerous driving charges, hit and run causing death and injury, and refusing to take a breath test. He is scheduled to appear in Calgary Provincial Court this morning.
i feel embarressed when my own people fight each other and kill each other in the act. I hope this guy gets life for what he did.
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Why does shit like this happen? 
