Street racers and sideshows are all over Fresno again. What happened to the crackdown?
When Fresno police diverted resources away from street racers and show-off drivers holding impromptu sideshows in city intersections, it didn’t dampen concerns over crazy driving on social media. Now, those dangerous drivers may be in the crosshairs again.
Councilmember Mike Karbassi said Friday, “I really am scared,” and so are his constituents, that someone will be seriously injured or killed by a street racer. He’s taken his concerns to Deputy Chief Mike Reid and believes another big crackdown is in the offing.
Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama in August ordered “all hands on deck” after shootings in the city spiked, diverting motorcycle officers and other units away from some traffic enforcement duties in a bid to quell the violence.
It appeared to be a tough call, just months after dangerous driving became a high-profile target of law enforcement following the death of four at Palm and Bullard avenues in late December 2020.
Fresno police and other agencies began the “Stay Safe, Don’t Race” crackdown in late February, and after the first weekend of the effort announced that 189 violators had been cited, 44 cars towed, 10 people had been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and two ghost guns had been seized. There were many more citations and impoundments to follow.
And in a carrot-and-stick approach, city officials, including Councilmember Luis Chavez, Karbassi and Mayor Jerry Dyer are hopeful that a racetrack southwest of the city can divert some of the craziness into a controlled environment.
Videos capturing groups of reckless drivers taking over intersections to burn donuts, then careen away at high speed are widely shared on websites such as Nextdoor.com, prompting outrage, often accompanied by demands that law enforcement take action.
A video posted recently on Nextdoor by Denise Nunez captured the brazenness of sideshow participants, who commandeered the intersection of West Dakota and North Polk avenues to do burnouts at high speed as other drivers became a captive audience.
“Numerous cars were taking turns and some had kids hanging out the passenger window,” she wrote.
Chavez said there are multiple areas in his southeast Fresno district that also attract sideshows, including South Sunnyside and East Church avenues, Huntington Avenue and Sixth Street, and an industrial area near East Jensen and South Chestnut avenues.
He noted as well a recent well-circulated video shot at South Clovis Avenue and East Kings Canyon Road that caught “knuckleheads” blocking traffic to perform dangerous stunts. In that case, police were able to track down at least one driver with the department helicopter, arrest him, and impound his car.
Chavez, however, is optimistic about finalizing plans for the racetrack on city property near West Central and South Hayes avenues, near the police department’s Regional Training Facility.
Plans call for a quarter-mile drag strip and an autocourse driving track where would-be racers can take their driving ambitions. While the city owns the land, a private company will construct the tracks. Plans include concessions, including ever-popular food trucks.
Chavez is behind another effort to channel young Fresno drivers in a positive direction, having launched “Cruising for Peace” last summer. He plans to continue that effort with “Cruise Fulton” in summer 2022, which would be staged around Chukchansi Park.
At the same time, Karbassi said he will be glad to get some of the dangerous drivers cited and their cars impounded.
“(Enforcement) really helps a lot,” he said. “My office is getting a lot of calls.” After the last round of enforcement efforts, the wild driving “really subsided for some time.”
This story was originally published November 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM.