Appeal to teens to stop tagging scene of crash

The owners of an Invercargill store where a car of teenagers crashed on Friday, killing three and seriously injuring another, want the teens' friends to stop tagging their building.

Driver Jesse William Langeveld, 19, and passengers Tyler James Parry, 16, and Ethan James Peek, 16, were killed when the modified Honda Civic they were travelling in slammed into a concrete building wall on Leven St at 12.35am.

Shawn Milne, 16, underwent surgery on Friday and remained in a stable condition in the general ward in Southland Hospital.

Police said it appeared speed was a factor and their investigation would look at whether the car was racing another car when it crashed.

The car slammed sideways into the back wall of Powerstore, right outside Thompsons Furniture's car park, which the teens' friends have taken to with spraypaint to turn into a shrine, the Southland Times reported.

Co-owner Russell Jenkins said he understood why the friends wanted to leave messages, but some spraypaint had spread to the front of the store, and some of the messages had been inappropriate.

The victims' families had since erected a canvas over the crash site for people to leave messages on .

Powerstore Invercargill manager Jamie Briggs said there was no problem with people leaving less permanent items like flowers.

"With the graffiti I can see where those guys (the friends) are coming from, but it is an illegal act and it's not showing respect for the (business) owners around here."

- NZPA