G20
03-04-2006, 09:58 PM
I found this on Orange County Resgister today. What were those guys smoking? Street racing in Fountain Valley? :idiot2:
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1029474.php
--------- Cut and paster below in case you don't have access to the OC Register web site ----------------------
Web site tips police to street-racing rally
Fountain Valley officers observe Feb. 24 gathering, issuing citations for speeding and illegal modifications.
By JOHN McDONALD
The Orange County Register
IMPOUNDED: Fountain Valley senior officer Matt Sheppard stands next to two of three cars that were impounded Feb. 24 after their drivers were cited for street racing.
MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
FOUNTAIN VALLEY – The tip came from a woman to the front desk of the police station: Check out www.Honduh.com.
Officers looked at the Web site and saw that a street-racing rally was planned for the night of Feb. 24 in the Denny's parking lot across from Mile Square Park.
Police watched the rally from the street. By 9 p.m. they counted 80 cars in the lot, some equipped with racing engines, manifolds and exhausts and others rigged with light arrays featuring illegal blues and reds and even whites for the taillights.
"They even knew which driveway to pull into. A lot of cars are very low to the road, so they had picked a driveway that gave them the clearance they needed," said Fountain Valley senior officer Matt Sheppard, a traffic investigator who has handled cases of three innocent victims killed because of street racing in the past three years.
Kylee McGowen, 10, was killed in April 2005 in what police said was the result of a street race, less than a block from where the rally took place. Ahmad Shakir Dakhil, 19, who is charged with murder in Kylee's death and Carter Saleh Hasan, 27, of Fountain Valley, who is charged with manslaughter, face trial in May on allegations that their street race led to her death. A second street-racing accident killed two people in Fountain Valley, but the racers were never found, Sheppard said.
Two plainclothes officers mixed with the crowd at the rally.
"They were all talking about how things were going to get crazy later," Sheppard said the undercover officers reported.
About 10:30 p.m., he said, the crowd seemed to have detected that they were being observed.
It was about that time that Sheppard pulled his police motorcycle onto Edinger Avenue as two Mazda RX-7s and a 2006 Ford Mustang headed away from the park.
"There are people walking from the residential area along that way to the park at all hours of the day and night," Sheppard said. "There are always pedestrians on the street."
He followed the three cars for several blocks, up to the red light at Bushard Street and Heil Avenue. The two Mazdas stopped side by side for the red light, the Mustang behind in the left-hand lane and Sheppard on his police motorcycle behind the Mazda.
"I couldn't believe it. I was sitting right behind them and they were revving their engines, inching forward until the light turned green," the senior traffic investigator said.
When the light turned green, gray smoke filled the air, the stench of burning rubber filling the motorcycle officer's nostrils.
"There was no doubt they were racing; all three were leaving rubber on the road even though I was right behind them," said Sheppard.
Then came the biggest surprise, he said.
"I turned on my lights and all three pulled over," Sheppard said.
The cars had gone only a few hundred feet and reached 45 mph, but the revving engines and burning rubber were enough to establish that a race was in progress, the officer said.
Police identified the three drivers as Jae Bai and Michael Navarro, both 18 and from Garden Grove, and Robert Rico, 18, of Anaheim. They were cited for exhibition of speed, and their cars were impounded for 30 days. None of the men could be reached for comment.
Other officers issued citations to other drivers for speeding and going through red lights, and several car owners were cited for having cars with illegally modified engines, exhausts and intake manifolds, Sgt. Sara Long said.
"Usually we're lucky to stumble across a rally like this, and then the first red light they head out in 80 different directions," she said.
Sheppard wanted to get the word out to street racers that they are not welcome in Fountain Valley.
"We're going to be ready and out there for them. We're going actively pursue them and we'll catch them," he predicted.
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/homepage/abox/article_1029474.php
--------- Cut and paster below in case you don't have access to the OC Register web site ----------------------
Web site tips police to street-racing rally
Fountain Valley officers observe Feb. 24 gathering, issuing citations for speeding and illegal modifications.
By JOHN McDONALD
The Orange County Register
IMPOUNDED: Fountain Valley senior officer Matt Sheppard stands next to two of three cars that were impounded Feb. 24 after their drivers were cited for street racing.
MARK RIGHTMIRE, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
FOUNTAIN VALLEY – The tip came from a woman to the front desk of the police station: Check out www.Honduh.com.
Officers looked at the Web site and saw that a street-racing rally was planned for the night of Feb. 24 in the Denny's parking lot across from Mile Square Park.
Police watched the rally from the street. By 9 p.m. they counted 80 cars in the lot, some equipped with racing engines, manifolds and exhausts and others rigged with light arrays featuring illegal blues and reds and even whites for the taillights.
"They even knew which driveway to pull into. A lot of cars are very low to the road, so they had picked a driveway that gave them the clearance they needed," said Fountain Valley senior officer Matt Sheppard, a traffic investigator who has handled cases of three innocent victims killed because of street racing in the past three years.
Kylee McGowen, 10, was killed in April 2005 in what police said was the result of a street race, less than a block from where the rally took place. Ahmad Shakir Dakhil, 19, who is charged with murder in Kylee's death and Carter Saleh Hasan, 27, of Fountain Valley, who is charged with manslaughter, face trial in May on allegations that their street race led to her death. A second street-racing accident killed two people in Fountain Valley, but the racers were never found, Sheppard said.
Two plainclothes officers mixed with the crowd at the rally.
"They were all talking about how things were going to get crazy later," Sheppard said the undercover officers reported.
About 10:30 p.m., he said, the crowd seemed to have detected that they were being observed.
It was about that time that Sheppard pulled his police motorcycle onto Edinger Avenue as two Mazda RX-7s and a 2006 Ford Mustang headed away from the park.
"There are people walking from the residential area along that way to the park at all hours of the day and night," Sheppard said. "There are always pedestrians on the street."
He followed the three cars for several blocks, up to the red light at Bushard Street and Heil Avenue. The two Mazdas stopped side by side for the red light, the Mustang behind in the left-hand lane and Sheppard on his police motorcycle behind the Mazda.
"I couldn't believe it. I was sitting right behind them and they were revving their engines, inching forward until the light turned green," the senior traffic investigator said.
When the light turned green, gray smoke filled the air, the stench of burning rubber filling the motorcycle officer's nostrils.
"There was no doubt they were racing; all three were leaving rubber on the road even though I was right behind them," said Sheppard.
Then came the biggest surprise, he said.
"I turned on my lights and all three pulled over," Sheppard said.
The cars had gone only a few hundred feet and reached 45 mph, but the revving engines and burning rubber were enough to establish that a race was in progress, the officer said.
Police identified the three drivers as Jae Bai and Michael Navarro, both 18 and from Garden Grove, and Robert Rico, 18, of Anaheim. They were cited for exhibition of speed, and their cars were impounded for 30 days. None of the men could be reached for comment.
Other officers issued citations to other drivers for speeding and going through red lights, and several car owners were cited for having cars with illegally modified engines, exhausts and intake manifolds, Sgt. Sara Long said.
"Usually we're lucky to stumble across a rally like this, and then the first red light they head out in 80 different directions," she said.
Sheppard wanted to get the word out to street racers that they are not welcome in Fountain Valley.
"We're going to be ready and out there for them. We're going actively pursue them and we'll catch them," he predicted.