Burnouts, shouting, and screeching tires led to countless sleepless nights for Marco Velasquez.
Living along South Euclid Street in Garden Grove, behind a strip mall with a large parking lot, the 64-year-old electrician would wait for the car-enthusiasts’ meetups to end or for police to appear and break them up.
“Sometimes, they’d be out there for what felt like hours,” he said of the car enthusiasts. “They don’t have any respect for the families that live nearby, of the lives they risk, including their own.”
Garden Grove police took notice.
For a month starting in late August, the Police Department put extra officers on night shifts to focus on street racing and street takeovers, in which drivers take command of an intersection and often spin doughnuts while others look on. Police made 31 arrests and impounded 28 vehicles.
The operation also led to 823 citations, nearly all handed out to drivers within city limits, Sgt. Royce Wimmer said. The remaining citations were dispensed by Garden Grove officers participating in a countywide task force.
Velasquez wasn’t aware of the effort — but he noticed the noise less often in September.
Street racing and takeovers have been an issue in various pockets of Southern California. Gene Harbrecht, a longtime Orange County Register editor, was killed because of possible street racing on Bristol Street in Santa Ana in July 2020. One of the drivers, Louis Villa, was convicted of second-degree murder and faces sentencing on Friday.
In April, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, along with actor Sung Kang of the “Fast & Furious” franchise, launched a nationwide, public-service announcement specifically targeting street racing.
The one-minute spot includes scenes of cars revving engines and drifting. It ends with Cody Walker — younger brother of actor Paul Walker, killed when a Porsche he was a passenger in lost control and went into a light pole and a tree in 2013 — saying, “Guys, let’s be responsible. There’s someone waiting for you at home.”
@sungkang #larrychen @CHPWestminster @SealBeachPolice @GardenGrovePD @LaHabraPD @IrvinePolice @SantaAnaPD #streetracingkills #keepitonthetrack #toddspitzer pic.twitter.com/uxRKi2NYzj
— OCDA Todd Spitzer (@OCDAToddSpitzer) April 29, 2022
In an interview this week, the district attorney said: “It’s beyond important. What’s bothered me most, despite all our efforts, it seems the deterrent effect (of the public-service announcement) has not been that great. (Los Angeles) has been suffering immensely. Not only do you have people killed and seriously injured, but there’s terrible property damage to these intersections.”
Spitzer said his office is “all in on taking down these street racers,” who are believed to be mostly teenagers and younger adults.
“We’re not trying to discourage young people from having fun,” he said. “We were all teenagers, but we weren’t going out and taking over intersections.”
Garden Grove police noticed patterns and were strategic in their approach, Wimmer said.
“We were seeing certain nights of the week where these car crews — a lot aren’t from our city, but they come to our city,” the sergeant said. “We get complaints and videos. … There are some parking lots they tend to use and some of it’s just police work and seeing a bunch of cars heading into your city.”
Garden Grove officers stepped up enforcement to show not only those participating in the dangerous acts, but those who live and work in the city, that the Police Department takes the issue seriously.
“We’re getting ahead of the problem as of right now,” Wimmer said. “There was no one incident that set this off, it was just the consistent calls for service, the community complaining and observation from our own officers. It was a collaborative effort.”
Police issued 273 citations for excessive or loud exhaust during the operation. Throughout the month, the department pulled in an additional three to 10 officers from other assignments on overtime to help with the street-racing and takeover effort.
Some of the stopped vehicle led to other discoveries, police said. Of the arrests, nine were cuffed for driving under the influence, with one under the influence of nitrous oxide, Wimmer said.
One driver was found with a firearm. Five arrests were for speed racing.
A driver doing illegal burnouts was arrested with his vehicle impounded, police said, and during a search of the vehicle officers found five kilograms of cocaine.
Drivers participating in street racing and takeovers tend to hang out in commercial parking lots with 100 parking spaces or more. Denise Sepeda, 26, would shop at Target near Brookhurst Street and Westminster Boulevard in the evenings, but because of the meetups, she started shopping earlier in the day.
“They weren’t near my car, but you never know,” she said. “I can’t afford to fix my car if they hit or damaged it somehow.”
James Wolfe, 50, lives near lots police frequented during the operation. He understands the love for a nice car and the urge to show it off. He owns a 1965 Shelby Mustang and often takes it to local car shows.
“But these people disrespect the neighborhoods they come to,” Wolfe said. “They leave the place a mess with ugly skid marks and make it dangerous for us to go about our lives.”
Sgt. Wimmer hopes the monthlong operation will have street racers thinking twice before coming to Garden Grove to engage in the illegal activities.
“We’re taking a zero tolerance approach to any type of takeover, reckless driving or speed racing,” he said. “Anything that’s jeopardizing anybody’s safety, we are going to do everything we can to hold that person accountable under the law.”
Velasquez, the Garden Grove resident who was losing sleep because of the street racers, hopes those involved in the car meetups will take them to a safer place.
“Maybe they’ll go to a real race track or something,” he said. “Just stay out of my neighborhood.”
