In order to capture the video uploaded to YouTube, Tang drove his manual transmission 2006 BMW model Z4 with a dashboard camera mounted inside the car. The video shows Tang weaving between two to four lanes of traffic attempting to race around other vehicles along the New York City highways.
While the Z4 is capable of speeds up to 155 miles per hour, Tang claims to have kept the car under 100 miles per hour for the duration of the film. While he stopped for six red lights, Tang did admit to running one red light at a pedestrian crosswalk (found at minute 2:26 of the YouTube video).
According to the New York City Police Department, officers in the city’s District Collision Investigation Squad were able to identify Tang based on the YouTube video footage. While the footage never showed Tang’s face or license plate, it’s likely that officers used traffic camera surveillance along the route to identify the speeding vehicle. In an official NYPD statement released during the investigation, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly stated “We now have license-plate readers in the city that will assist in this type of investigation.”
Tang was arrested just three days after that statement was made. After appearing in court today, Tang’s bail was set at $10,000 bond or $5,000 cash. Prior to his arrest, Tang gave an interview to auto blog Jalopnik. When asked why he published the video just days from the speed run rather than waiting a year or more to avoid a potential arrest, Tang said “You frankly can’t identify who I am by just looking at the video and records were meant to be broken.”
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