LeVin denied bond on Florida vehicular homicide charges
A former Hoffman Estates man charged with killing two people in a hit-and-run crash in Florida was denied bond in a court appearance this morning in Florida.
Ryan LeVin, 35, has been booked on two counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving vehicular homicide and failing to remain at the scene of a crash involving death, Fort Lauderdale police said.
He faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of the charges. Police arrested him late Tuesday night at a Florida condominium owned by his family.
LeVin has denied he was driving the 2007 Porsche that killed British businessmen Craig Lewis Elford, 39, and Kenneth Watkinson, 48. Police say the men were struck when one of two speeding sports cars lost control and veered onto the sidewalk on which the men were walking.
An affidavit released earlier this week by Fort Lauderdale police detailed what investigators surmised happened on Feb. 13, 2009, the night of the wreck. Much of the investigation centers on LeVin and friend Derek Cook's cell phone records. Police said LeVin was celebrating a friend's birthday and had drinks at a Florida restaurant, a strip club and a bar.
It wasn't LeVin's first brush with the law. LeVin was released on parole from Shawnee Correctional Center last August after serving several months for a probation violation for a 2006 felony conviction, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.
Police stopped LeVin in Chicago on July 30, 2006, for having no front license on his car, said a spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's office. After refusing to show the arresting officer his driver's license, LeVin fled the scene, clipping a Chicago police officer in the process, the spokeswoman said.
Police pursued LeVin who caused a crash involving two police vehicles on the Kennedy Expressway, the spokeswoman said. While on the expressway, he drove his vehicle in the opposite direction of traffic and eventually stopped on a grassy incline. Police apprehended him after he tried to flee on foot, the spokeswoman said.
LeVin pleaded guilty to aggravated fleeing in November 2007 and received a sentence of 30 months probation and drug counseling, the spokeswoman said. He violated that probation by not complying with court orders and was taken into custody in February 2009. In May of that year, he was resentenced to two years in the Illinois Department of Corrections, the spokeswoman said. IDOC records indicate he was released on Aug. 21, 2009.
LeVin's family founded the Schaumburg-based company Jewels by Park Lane. In a statement released after the crash, the company expressed sympathy for the families of Elford and Watkinson. The same release also indicated that LeVin had not been involved in the company and was not currently employed there. However, the affidavit release by Florida police lists Jewels by Park Lane as LeVin's employer.
• Daily Herald staff writer Ashok Selvam contributed to this report.