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IU Teke dies in drag race
IU junior was killed early Friday after a 120-mph drag race
Friends remember IU junior who was killed Friday morning
By Elise Baker
An IU junior was killed early Friday after a 120-mph drag race between students led to two separate wrecks.
Jeffrey Maiatico, 20, was killed east of Bloomington when his roommate, junior Daipayan Banerjee, who was driving the vehicle, lost control of his 1997 Ford Mustang.
The crash occurred as Maiatico and Banerjee sped north on Ind. 446, near Moores Pike.
Police said Maiatico and Banerjee were racing junior Patrick J. McBride, 21, who was driving a 1995 Caprice.
Both drivers lost control of their vehicles at the same time. Banerjee's convertible rolled over, became airborne and struck a tree with enough force to leave marks 15 feet high and propel the battery of the car into the side of a nearby house, police said.
Banerjee suffered minor injuries, and McBride, who crashed separately, was unharmed. McBride could face misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and being involved in a speed contest, police said.
Junior Ryan Bradley, who met Maiatico while they were pledging Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity in January 2002, described Maiatico as a personable guy with many friends.
"He really lived life to the fullest and was always willing to go out and do anything anybody wanted to do," Bradley said.
He added that Maiatico volunteered frequently in the Bloomington community.
"(Jeff) had a little brother through the … Big Brothers/Big Sisters program," Bradley said.
Jeremy Levinson, another junior who knew Maiatico and Banerjee through the fraternity, said he found out about Maiatico's death from friends.
Levinson said he had never heard either of the roommates mention drag racing before.
Services for Maiatico will be held in his home state of New Jersey at Christ the King Church in Haddonfield, N.J. There will be a viewing from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, and Maiatico's funeral will follow at 11 a.m. Thursday.
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