Posted: 31 May 2014 06:51 PM PDT

SYRACUSE, Utah — Police were involved in a pursuit of a car Saturday, and dramatic video from a FOX 13 News viewer shows the car speeding across the grass of Founders Park as children frantically move out of the way.

The chase ended around 6:12 p.m. at 1500 S. Banbury Drive in Syracuse, and police officials said a minor had taken the vehicle without permission and officers sought the vehicle on a breach of trust.

The 14-year-old male driving the car is from Sunset and had taken the vehicle from his grandfather in Duchesne County, and the grandfather reported the car stolen, according to a press release from the Syracuse Police Department. Police put out an attempt to locate, and police responded after a tipster spotted the car in Syracuse. The tipster heard the attempt to locate while using a police scanner app on a smart phone.

Syracuse Police Department officials responded to the call, and video footage of the chase is available above. A photo from the scene shows the same car that tore through the park collided with a pickup truck. A second photo shows the damage to both vehicles, see the gallery below. Another video, courtesy of Bryson and Brandy Rowley, shows the moment of impact:

Bryson Rowley was driving the truck, and he said he intentionally used his truck as a ram rod to stop the fleeing vehicle. Rowley provided the pictures and videos in this story, and he said he acted to end the chase because he was afraid for the safety of his and other children at the park.

"The person driving the truck could see it was turning back into the park, and he did not want the car to hit all of the children, or any of the children, and he actually pulled his truck in the way so the car collided with the truck," said Officer Erin Behm with the Syracuse Police Department.

Brandy Rowley, Bryson's wife, spoke about the incident.

"My heart dropped," she said. "I honestly thought one of those kids is going to die."

In the days that followed the incident, many people hailed Rowley as a hero and several people offered to repair his truck for free. He spoke with FOX 13 News about the support he's received and about his decision to intervene in the chase, click here for that interview.

Officials said the teen was taken to a nearby juvenile detention center.

Photo Gallery

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1990 BMW 8 Series Flashback (2014-06-03 ... - CarPictures.com

Posted: 03 Jun 2014 09:38 PM PDT

Posted: 03 Jun 2014 TIMELESSLY ALLURING: 25 YEARS OF THE BMW 8 SERIES

Munich. It was streets ahead of its time at launch and maintains an ageless glow to this day, yet a glance at the calendar reveals the disarming truth: 25 years have passed since the BMW 8 Series was presented to the world at large for the first time. The car's international fan community duly came together last weekend at its Bavarian birthplace to celebrate the anniversary, with events including a spectacular parade of 120 cars at the BMW Group headquarters highlighting their collective adoration of the brand's exclusive luxury Coupe.

The event was a team effort fronted by the BMW 8 Series club 8er.org (The international 8 Series community) and ClubE31 Worldwide Owners Group e.V. with support from the BMW Club International Office. The 260 participants from 20 countries began proceedings with a tour of BMW Plant Dingolfing, where the BMW 8 Series was produced from 1989 through to 1999. The second highlight of the weekend was the gathering of club members and their cars at the BMW Museum and BMW "four-cylinder" head office in Munich for a combined photo shoot. The BMW 8 Series models fanned out in formation according to paintwork shade, creating an imposing image – and an added attraction for visitors to the BMW Museum and adjacent BMW Welt.

ClubE31 Worldwide Owners Group e.V. brings together more than 2,000 owners and fans of the BMW 8 Series from around the world. The club's activities include regular national and international meetings and a lively experience-sharing forum. Here, members can find assistance in procuring replacement parts and expertise to help them with the upkeep and care of their cars. The meeting in Dingolfing and Munich attracted enthusiasts from the USA, Iceland and New Zealand, among other countries. Two club representations from Spain, meanwhile, decided to take their cars on a particularly epic journey to celebrate the BMW 8 Series anniversary, driving them more than 1,800 kilometres (approx. 1,120 miles) and almost 2,500 kilometres (1,550 miles) respectively to Bavaria for the event.

The BMW 8 Series stands out as a landmark model in a BMW Coupe lineage that dates back to the 1930s. A clean-sheet design, the car tagged "E31" by its maker launched its challenge to the world's finest sports coupes with a design oozing avant-garde elegance, arresting performance attributes, an exceptional wealth of innovations and a sprinkling of exclusive luxury. The BMW 850i presented at the 1989 International Motor Show in Frankfurt represented a demonstration of the Munich-based carmaker's development expertise, revealing not only a cutting-edge new design line but also an unparalleled array of technological details making their automotive debuts. The design of the wedge-shaped body – headlined most strikingly by a long, swooping bonnet (housing retractable headlights), smooth lines, the absence of B-pillars and a steeply cut rear end – showcased the dynamics and grace of the new coupe with equal élan.

The BMW 850i, moreover, followed the BMW 750i luxury Sedan introduced two years earlier as the second post-war German car to be powered by a 12-cylinder engine. The 5.0-litre unit developed 220 kW/300 hp and peak torque of 450 Newton metres (332 lb-ft) to propel the 1,790 kg 2+2-seater from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.8 seconds.

Channelling the engine's power to the rear wheels was either a six-speed manual gearbox specially developed for the BMW 850i or a four-speed automatic, while its pioneering integral rear axle with five-link suspension was celebrating its premiere in the luxury Coupe. Automatic Stability Control plus Traction (ASC+T), speed-sensitive power steering and the Electronic Damper Control (EDC) system introduced as an option in spring 1990 were among the other details that helped give the BMW 8 Series its distinctive identity as a driving machine. The motoring press heralded the BMW 850i as a "coupe of velvet and silk" and the "perfect symbiosis of power and comfort". After its first road test in the car, German car magazine "auto, motor und sport" wrote: "BMW has given the 850i all the high-tech weaponry it needs to take top spot." And turning its attentions to the chassis technology of the BMW 8 Series, "Auto Bild" magazine commented: "It needs to be experienced to be believed, preferably through high-speed corners on the motorway: bumps, expansion joints – shocks that are sure to trigger sudden jolts of adrenaline in other cars – leave the 850i driver totally unruffled."

Among the other new features of the BMW 8 Series were the belt system integrated into the seats, an electrically adjustable steering column with memory function, an automatically dimming rear-view mirror, remote-control central locking and a high-performance onboard computer. A multiplex electrical system featured for the first time, with data transfer from several different systems via the same conduit enhancing reliability and reducing weight. Both the front and rear side windows of the luxury Coupe could be fully retracted. And, in another new addition, the front side windows were automatically lowered or raised when the doors were opened or closed, improving sealing and reducing wind noise as a result.

A second version of the 12-cylinder engine was added to the range for model year 1993. With displacement increased to 5.6 litres, the engine imbued the flagship BMW 850 CSi model with 280 kW/381 hp and peak torque of 550 Newton metres (406 lb-ft). The sprint from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) could now be wrapped up in under six seconds. To take into account those elevated performance figures the BMW 850 CSi was also given a new driving dynamics system, including active rear axle kinematics. Here, the rear wheels respond to the car's speed and steering angle by turning in the same direction to optimise directional stability through dynamically taken corners and sudden evasive manoeuvres. The electrohydraulic system in the BMW 8 Series was the precursor to the Integral Active Steering available for today's BMW 7 Series, BMW 6 Series and BMW 5 Series.

With the launch of the BMW 850 CSi, the existing model was rechristened BMW 850 Ci and given myriad detail modifications. Standard equipment now included an airbag each for the driver and front passenger, infrared remote control and folding rear seat backrests. DSC (Dynamic Stability Control) was available as an option and the automatic gearbox was now equipped with adaptive control. Autumn 1994 witnessed a changing of the guard under the bonnet: the BMW 850 Ci was now powered by a 5.4-litre V12 engine with 240 kW/326 hp, which customers could choose to combine with a new five-speed automatic gearbox. The BMW 840 Ci joined the line-up in 1993. Its 4.0-litre V8 produced 210 kW/286 hp, providing an undeniably sporty entry point into the world of BMW luxury Coupes.

In 1995 the BMW 8 Series inspired British artist David Hockney to add his vision to the BMW Art Cars series. The BMW 850 CSi he created symbolised an artistic take on transparency. Hockney added flourishes such as stylised intake manifolds on the bonnet and silhouettes of the driver and steering column on the driver's door, while the artist's dachshund Stanley is painted onto the rear side panel as if he were a passenger in the rear.

A total of 30,621 examples of the BMW 8 Series were produced up to 1999, 24 of which were lavishly hand-built at BMW's Rosslyn plant in South Africa. For tax reasons, assembling the cars there was more cost-efficient than importing the finished articles. More than two thirds of all the BMW 8 Series Coupes produced were 12-cylinder models, and only one in six were fitted with the six-speed manual gearbox. The top-of-the-line BMW 850 CSi accounted for 1,510 of the overall unit figure. The ultra-high-performance model was available exclusively with a manual gearbox, in keeping with its sporting character.

The tour of the Dingolfing plant also allowed the enthusiasts at the BMW 8 Series meeting to catch up with a spectacular prototype of the luxury Coupe. This one-off, high-performance variant of the BMW 8 Series was completed in 1991 and featured an all-new 12-cylinder engine developing around 550 hp, chassis technology tuned precisely to the power unit and specific body features with optimised airflow characteristics and aerodynamics. Co-developed by BMW Motorsport GmbH and BMW Technik GmbH, this super-sports car was employed as a test bed for technology and innovations. Its engine, for example, served as the basis for the V12 unit powering the legendary McLaren F1.

Via www.worldcarfans.com

BMW 8 Series

In pictures: Woman found grisly murdered in car - NewsDay Zimbabwe

Posted: 28 May 2014 02:24 AM PDT

A "MARRIED" live-in girlfriend of a self-styled witch-hunter, David Muzenda, was yesterday morning found grisly murdered at Murisa Village in Seke near Ziko Shopping Centre just outside Chitungwiza.

PHYLLIS MBANJE

The bloodied body of the woman was discovered in Muzenda's blue Mercedes Benz with two bullet wounds, one in the head and another at the back.

The murder scene…

It is understood that police were reportedly keen to interview the revered prophet-cum-traditional healer "Dr Muzenda", who is originally from Gokwe communal lands, over the incident which has left the community shell-shocked.

Muzenda's shrine where the car was parked…

National police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba last night told ZBC that Muzenda, who is on the run, was the prime suspect in the alleged murder.

Although it could not be established who actually discovered the body, NewsDay understands that Muzenda had reportedly contacted his lawyer's offices — Mugiya and Macharaga in Chitungwiza — about the incident.

But lawyer Norman Mugiya yesterday said: "I can only [comment] if my client instructs me to do so."

Police collect exhibits from the scene

There was a sombre atmosphere as police details combed the area around the vehicle where the woman's body was found for further evidence that could give them a hint as to what could have transpired.

The crowd, which had kept vigil since the early morning hours, almost turned rowdy when the police lifted the body from the back of the car.

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A pungent smell permeated the area as the blood-socked body was being lowered into the police steel coffin.

"That car belongs to Muzenda, but the dead woman was now using it," one villager said.

According to the villagers, the woman whose name was not disclosed, reportedly deserted her husband in Gokwe to become one of Muzenda's live-in girlfriends.

People at the scene said the dead woman was a nurse at a health institution in Chihota communal lands and that she could have been killed following a domestic dispute amid reports she had recently indicated her intention to reconcile with her estranged husband.

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"It is said that the woman recently went to Gokwe to see her husband and they made up, but this did not go down well with the witch-hunter," an another villager said.

A neighbour, Richard Matema, whose house is only a few metres from Muzenda's house, said they never heard any gunshots or noticed anything amiss.

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"On Monday, I actually saw Muzenda leaving in that same car in the morning and only returned around 3 in the afternoon," he said pointing to the car.

"He later left again, but this time with the BMW X5. He left the Merc parked exactly where it is now."

Matema said Muzenda, who seemed to have a penchant for fancy cars, lived peacefully with other villagers.

"He had five attendant aides who actually slept here, but they have all disappeared following the discovery of the body," he said.

Village headman Lewis Murisa said he only heard about the incident yesterday morning.

Ward II councillor Masimba Ribatika said: "He [Muzenda] caused a lot of mayhem in other wards and was chased away repeatedly. Last year, acting Chief Seke [Tichafa Kunaka] actually ordered him to leave this area, but he adamantly disregarded that."

Gender pressure group Men's Forum-Varume Svinurai/Vukani Madoda chairman Fred Misi yesterday condemned the suspected murder and urged couples to resolve their issues amicably.

"Murder cases involving couples are on the rise and it is critical that people learn to communicate well and not use confrontation especially when they are still very angry," he said.

Meanwhile, there was mini-drama when one of the many "wives" of the witch-hunter turned up at the scene.

The woman, identified as Thandiwe Magida, claimed that she had spoken to Muzenda in the morning and had actually asked for money to buy food.

"I do not know where he is, but he sent me $100 for food," she said before breaking down in tears.

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