(WXXI News & ESPN) The investigation involving the death of a race car driver in Canandaigua last month is now headed to a grand jury. That word today from Ontario County District Attorney Mike Tantillo.
He issued a statement saying that over the last several weeks he has reviewed the circumstances of the incident with the Ontario County Sheriff’s Department.
Now that deputies have finished their investigation, Tantillo says he has made the determination that it would be appropriate to submit the evidence to a grand jury for their determination as to what action should be taken.
Tantillo says he expects to present the matter to a grand jury in the near fuure, but due to the confidential nature of the proceedings, he cannot go into any more detail. The August 9th incident at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park took the life of a 20 year old race car driver from the North Country, Kevin Ward Jr.
Ward was struck by a car driven by NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, after Ward had gotten out of his car to confront Stewart after an on-track incident.
Stewart issued a statement which said: "I respect the time and effort spent by both the Ontario County District Attorney and the Sheriff's Office in investigating this tragic accident. I look forward to this process being completed, and I will continue to provide my full cooperation."
