Busy Night for Street Racing Task Force: Vehicle Impounds, Citations, Arrests, Loaded Firearm Recovered

Slymar, Los Angeles, CA: The Los Angeles Police Department’s Street Racing Task Force followed street racers throughout the San Fernando Valley all night long leading to citations, vehicle impounds, arrests and recovery of a loaded firearm.

Key News Network video from overnight starting from Friday night, May 5, to early Saturday morning, shows about 30 people receiving citations for spectating during street racing. At least eight cars were towed and impounded.

Cinco de Mayo is typically a busy night for the task force because street racers like to come out and take over intersections and do donuts, according to Sergeant Jodie McGee, supervisor for the Street Racing Task Force of the LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division. Other people at the scene of takeovers try and block officers from coming in and doing any kind of enforcement.

When units arrived at the intersection of Bradley Avenue and Bledsoe Street in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Sylmar within the San Fernando Valley, officers could not enter the area of the takeover itself due to the crowd, however, once the crowd was aware of the arrival of police officers, the crowd starting running back to their cars. At that point, McGee said, police patrol vehicles blocked all the cars in and took the cars for a one-day impound because they were blocking the roadway. In addition, all the people who were inside and outside of their vehicles received a ticket for spectating, which can include arrest and is referred to as RFC – a “field release”.

McGee said that during a search of the vehicles, officers recovered a loaded firearm. They located the owner, who was taken to Van Nuys jail, added McGee.

At the Bradley/Bledsoe intersection, McGee said approximately 20 citations were issued. For the whole day, there were about 30 citations and three or four individuals arrested.

McGee said that normally the California Highway Patrol assists the task force, but Simi Valley Police Department was providing enforcement action Friday night to LAPD in the area.

McGee stressed how unsafe street takeovers are to the motoring public. People have also been killed during street takeovers as well as a lot of collisions, hit-and-runs and injuries.

There is a 30-day hold on vehicles actually doing donuts, according to McGee. Spectators blocking the roadway receive a one-day hold on their vehicle.

McGee said they get calls all the time regarding street racing. “Frankly, people are just fed up,”added McGee.

Keith Johnson, Video Journalist / KNN