One arrested during La Mirada street racing intersection takeover

A flatbed tow truck prepares to tow the car deputies
impounded after its driver was arrested for reckless driving
Friday night. (Courtesy:LASD/Norwalk)

La Mirada-  A man was arrested late Friday night after a Sheriff's helicopter crew responding to a street-racing disturbance call was able to catch one of the suspects in the act.

At about 11:17 p.m. dispatchers at both Norwalk Sheriff's Station and Whittier Police Department began receiving numerous calls that street racers had commandeered the intersection of Valley View Ave. and Alondra Blvd. and were doing doughnuts in front of a large crowd that had gathered.

As close to a dozen deputies and police officers from both agencies on the way, a sheriff's helicopter in the area arrived quickly and spotted a car actively doing 'doughnuts' in the intersection.

The driver of that car attempted to leave after finding out that the copter was overhead but with deputies closing in by vehicle in several directions decided to park in the Arco AM/Pm parking lot.

The trained observer in the Sheriff's copter directed deputies arriving at the scene to a man that had been driving the car as he started walking towards the crowd that had assembled at the corner in an apparently failed attempt to blend in and escape arrest.

Deputies arrested the man for reckless driving and impounded his car. The name of the man was not released.

The intersection of Valley View Ave. and Alondra Blvd. has been the scene of close to a dozen or more takeovers since the start of 2018 by street racers including two other incidents in the past month. 

A video displayed here was captured during a takeover on January 26 and posted on Facebook shows the danger that both participants and spectators are risking at these rogue events that are publicized on social media.

Most of the street racing incidents have been occurring in the industrial area of the city with the area of Trojan Way and Desman Rd also serving as an isolated magnet for the scofflaws. 

Last year on December 1st was one exception as hundreds of racers and enthusiasts gathered in the area of Beach Blvd. and Rosecrans Av separating as deputies arrived into a number of small raucous groups that were heard and seen over many parts of the city for more than an hour according to residents on social media. Deputies made one arrest and impounded a car related that was involved in the incident.

File photo: Deputies impound a vehicle used in La Mirada street racing on Dec. 1, 2018.
(Courtesy:LASD/NWK)

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