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Car performing stunts in South L.A. slams into crowd, seriously injuring 2

Law enforcement and coroners officials at a fiery crash caused by street racing that killed three people earlier this year on the I-5 Freeway in Commerce.
Law enforcement and coroners officials at a fiery crash caused by street racing that killed three people earlier this year on the I-5 Freeway in Commerce.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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A driver performing “doughnuts” near a crowd of roughly 300 people lost control of his vehicle in a major South Los Angeles intersection last week, seriously injuring two people, police said.

Jonathan Alvarado, 18, of Los Angeles, was booked on suspicion of reckless driving after he plowed into a crowd at Western and Manchester avenues on Aug. 7, according to Officer Ricardo Hernandez of the LAPD’s South Traffic Bureau.

Video of the incident, which the LAPD recovered from a social media account, shows Alvarado’s car performing doughnuts before it skids, jerks left and lurches into a large crowd. Nearly 300 people were in the area observing what is known as a “sideshow,” an event where drivers perform vehicle stunts deemed dangerous by police, sometimes placing bets on who can perform the most rotations or burnouts, Hernandez said.

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One person struck by the car suffered a broken ankle, and another sustained a severe cut, according to Hernandez. Alvarado remains jailed in lieu of $20,000 bail.

Law enforcement officers across Southern California have become increasingly concerned with the illegal street racing scene in recent months, seeking to crack down on everything from sideshows to organized races to improvised speed contests on area freeways, that have sometimes produced lethal results.

A number of local police agencies, led by the LAPD and the California Highway Patrol, have agreed to form a countywide task force to combat the issue. A group of law enforcement officials met to plan the move in April, just days after police say an impromptu street race led to a deadly crash on the 5 Freeway. Three people were killed, including the son of a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department lieutenant. None of the dead were involved in the race.

Sgt. Jesse Garcia, who leads the LAPD’s street-racing detail, said incidents like last weekend’s in South L.A. have become more frequent in recent years. While racers normally wait until after dark to take to Southern California’s roadways, daytime rallies have become increasingly common on Sundays, putting more pedestrians in danger.

“We’ve started to see it more and more over the last two years. The daytime scene is exclusive to Sundays,” Garcia said. “Part of it has to do with the fact that most of these cats, they got regular jobs, they’re like you and me. They work, so they can’t be out at 4 o’clock in the morning on a Sunday.”

Reports of injuries at sideshows are a near monthly occurrence, according to Garcia. The actual number of people hurt at such incidents is likely higher, but many of the victims do not seek medical attention because they are connected with the illegal street racing scene and want to avoid contact with the police, Garcia said.

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Tracking the number of street racing-related injuries in Los Angeles and throughout California is difficult because most law enforcement agencies do not record such data. The Los Angeles City Council passed a measure last year requiring the LAPD to begin tracking those statistics, but the data are not yet available.

Garcia said he was concerned by the recent South L.A. incident because it happened in a main thoroughfare where people could easily be injured.

“There’s a Ralph’s Supermarket on the southeast corner, there’s a couple of gas stations on the west side,” he said. “There’s people coming and going about their daily business trying to get groceries, especially on a Sunday afternoon.”

james.queally@latimes.com

Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California.

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