‘Street Racing Task Force’ Formed to Suppress Street Racing and Side Shows

Sun Valley, Los Angeles, CA: Twenty eight people were cited and/or arrested by the multi-agency “Street Racing Task Force” on Thursday night, May 5, on Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard in Sun Valley.

Fifteen to twenty vehicles were impounded at the location as well. Los Angeles Police Department and California Highway Patrol joint task force was out this evening in an effort to suppress street racing and “side shows” in the San Fernando Valley.

Enforcement started Thursday evening on Cinco De Mayo as officers from CHP and LAPD worked to respond to radio calls for street racing and intersection takeovers.

At approximately 9:18 p.m., the task force arrived at the intersection of Coldwater Canyon Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard to find vehicles doing donuts in the intersection. Officers were able to detain, cite, and release 25 individuals at the location for spectating. Official Police Garages (OPG) tow trucks responded and towed all vehicles away that were parked on Roscoe, east of Coldwater Canyon.

Vehicles were parked in the roadway facing westbound on eastbound lanes as spectators left their vehicles to walk to the intersection where the activity was taking place.

A pickup truck stopped by CHP on Coldwater Canyon north of Roscoe, was found to contain a street value of $1,000 worth of cocaine inside. The driver of that vehicle was arrested.

Sergeant Jodie McGee for Valley Traffic LAPD interviewed at the scene by Key News Network for this report, added additional information by stressing the dangers of street racers and side shows. Spectators come out to film these events, but people are getting injured and killed by the vehicles doing donuts, he said. They lose control, they hit the crowd -“the spectators”- that are watching what is going on, and then they take off. Then it becomes a hit-and-run, and if a person is injured, it could be a felony, said McGee.

Earlier, there was another incident at Foothill and Balboa Boulevard where the task force caught a driver doing donuts and arrested him. He went to Van Nuys jail for reckless driving. The passenger was arrested for spectating. The vehicle in that incident was impounded for 30 days, according to McGee.

McGee said the vehicles towed at the scene at Coldwater Canyon and Roscoe will be impounded for the night, but it is a cost to the driver.

Additional information in this report is from California Highway Patrol Officer Mendoza off-camera.

Video: Zak Holman, Photojournalist / KNN