Lying in the middle of busy streets to demonstrate their toughness, an idea apparently copped from the movie "The Program," one teenager has been killed and two others critically wounded after being hit by cars.
Michael Macias, 17, of Syosset, N.Y., was hit by a car early Saturday while lying in the middle of a Long Island street. He was in critical condition Tuesday with spinal injuries at Jersey Shore Medical Center in Neptune, N.J.Nassau County police detective Thomas Keteltas said Macias was aping a scene from "The Program," in which college football players lie in the middle of a highway as autos whiz by to show they can take the pressure.
Macias is a member of the Syosset High School football team.
In Pennsylvania, Michael Shingledecker, 18, of Stoneboro died early Saturday and Dean Bartlett, 17, of Franklin was critically injured in a similar incident.
Witnesses told police that the teens were following through on a dare when they lay down on two-lane state Route 62 in Polk, about 70 miles north of Pittsburgh.
Officials were told that the teens were acting out a scene from the same movie.