1 dead, more than 200 citations issued at weekend street racing incidents captured on video, police say

One person died in a street racing accident and 224 citations were issued at several other street racing incidents across the city this weekend, Dallas police said.

Officials said police responded to 114 calls about street racing, which resulted in 115 traffic stops, two felony arrests and the seizure of 20 grams of marijuana.

Police confirmed incidents at Live Oak and Skillman streets, Cole and Lemmon avenues, Interstate 35 and Royal Lane, and the 9100 block of Southlink in Southeast Oak Cliff, where one person died.

The violators were from the North Texas area and had “no known affiliation with one another,” police said.

“The street racers’ activities continue in spite of the shelter-in-place order by Dallas County,” Dallas police said in a statement. “DPD will continue addressing these issues and encourage our residents to inform law enforcement of any violators.”

One of the incidents was recorded around 9:30 p.m. Sunday in a CVS Pharmacy parking lot near McKinney and Lemmon avenues in Uptown.

Video obtained by The Dallas Morning News showed dozens of vehicles in the parking lot and blocking Lemmon Avenue. In one video, cars performed stunts in the lot while fireworks popped off into the sky. The video also showed dozens of onlookers, many of whom did not maintain six feet of social distance.

Another video of the incident showed vehicles attempting to disperse as police sirens can be heard in the background.

A separate incident was recorded Sunday afternoon at the intersection of Live Oak and Skillman streets. Video posted to social media showed vehicles blocking part of Live Oak Street while a truck performed a stunt in the middle of the intersection.

Incidents were also reported in parts of Lower Greenville and Victory Park.

Police officials presented a proposal in February to Dallas City Council members on the Public Safety Committee that would allow police to ticket passengers in racing cars and people watching the illegal events as well as seize cars involved in such activities.

Assistant Chief Lonzo Anderson said in February that police task forces have seen an improvement because of traffic enforcement but that more needed to be done. Anderson said then that crowds at illegal racing events keep growing despite arrests and tickets issued to drivers for reckless driving and speeding.

Calls for speeding and racing have increased in the last several years, Anderson said. According to police, there were 4,867 calls in 2019 related to racing — up from 3,252 in 2016. Figures from this year were not available at February’s meeting.