Police Write 330 Tickets in Street-Race Crackdown

Capping weeks of investigation, Los Angeles police shut down an illegal street race early Wednesday, barricading hundreds of drivers and spectators into a two-block area for more than four hours, arresting four juveniles and issuing more than 300 tickets.

The loud late-night races had become a Tuesday night routine in recent weeks along a light-industrial strip of Plummer Street between Canoga and Owensmouth avenues, police said, attracting crowds in the hundreds from across the San Fernando Valley.

A female minor was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon against an officer when she tried to drive away, police said. Three other minors were arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Police also impounded five cars.

A group of residents who patrol their neighborhoods reported the street racing to Devonshire Division officers several weeks ago after receiving repeated complaints of vandalism and trespassing from area businesses, said LAPD Lt. Joe Eddy, who organized the crackdown.

Known as Volunteer Surveillance Teams, these citizens worked closely with police officers, gathering intelligence on the mostly teen-age street racers and videotaping the rowdy events, police said.

At a news conference Wednesday, police played a video showing cars revving their engines at the starting line, then zooming down a wide-open straightaway.

“It’s kind of a big, repetitive race against other kids,” Eddy said. “Because of the sheer mass of people there as participants, they kind of control the highway there.”

Shortly after midnight, as the low-slung, souped-up Hondas, Mustangs and light trucks prepared to race, 33 officers, three Explorers and eight volunteers blocked both ends of Plummer Street and all other possible exits.

Over the next four hours, officers handed out 330 citations to drivers and spectators for speeding, speed contests, aiding and abetting racing and curfew violations, authorities said. Tickets will cost about $200, according to a clerk with the Los Angeles Municipal Court.

Daryl Deffry, 18, of Encino, who said he had shown up to watch but not race, said the police deployment was massive.

“It really scared me. There were cops in every direction,” he said. “People wanted to go home. After two hours, people were starting to get tired of it.”

He said he was given a Breathalyzer test, then cited for aiding and abetting speed racing.

Deffry said young people have raced cars in the area for some time, and that there was little harm in it.

“It’s been like that for years . . . everyone has a fun time there,” he said. “We’re not doing a crime, at least we don’t think we are.”

Eddy said he did not know how long teens had been racing on Plummer Street, but police have fought for years to subdue street racing in other areas, particularly in the northeast Valley. Officers said the only nearby area where street racing is legal is at Los Angeles County Raceway in Palmdale.

Deffry said he hoped for the establishment of such a course closer to home. “I don’t look for trouble,” he said. “We need to work out a place where we can legally race in the Valley.”

Eddy said the LAPD will continue to crack down on illegal racing. “If this operation doesn’t eradicate the problem, there will be future enforcement,” he said.