Fresno cops, lawmakers partner to warn drivers to cool their wheels, stop racing

Fresno-area law enforcement Friday issued a warning to local street racers ahead of the summer break - slow down, or you could lose your car, your license, or your life.

It was a renewal of admonition that authorities have tried to pound home since December of 2020 when a speeding driver ran a red light at Palm and Bullard avenues while trying to flee police. Four people died, and three others were injured in the collision between a Mustang and a Toyota pickup.

Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama, Sheriff Margaret Mims, and California Highway Patrol Central Division Chief Ceto Ortiz gathered with State Assembly members Jim Patterson and Vince Fong at the CHP’s air operations center to deliver the message. Not without a bit of irony, however, the revving sound of a V8 muscle car winding through its gears nearby could be heard at one point.

Fong, R-Bakersfield, is pushing for $5.5 million in state funding to get tough with so-called “sideshow” drivers, who gather on weekends to perform illegal races and burnouts on public streets. He noted that Fresno drivers were among those arrested in a March street racing event in Kern County.

Patterson, R-Fresno, noted he and his family live just blocks from the fatal Bullard and Palm collision.

“We are going to find you, stop you, and arrest you,” he warned.

Street racing is a regional problem, noted Mims, because racers can be in Kerman one minute and in another part of the valley a short time later, making a multi-agency approach to the issue vital. But parents play a crucial role as well, she said.

“Have this discussion with your kids.”

Said Balderrama:

“We’re not targeting car clubs. I’m a car lover myself. This is illegal street racing.

“These are kids that barely have enough experience to have a driver’s license driving vehicles with 400 horsepower. That’s not OK.”