69 Charged In 'Aggressive' Street Racing Sting: St. Pete Police

Updated: 12:19 p.m., Monday

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Following a crackdown on illegal street racing in north St. Petersburg, 69 people face various charges, authorities said. The drivers traveled from across the state for the gathering.

Law enforcement broke up the large group of street racers, who took over the block in front of 11001 Roosevelt Boulevard North, on Saturday night, Assistant Chief Antonio Gilliam with the St. Petersburg Police Department said during a Monday morning news conference.

SPPD worked closely with other agencies, including the Pinellas Park Police Department and Florida Highway Patrol, on the sting operation.

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"Our agencies were made aware of the so-called 'street takeover.' With every available resource at our disposal, law enforcement responded in our most aggressive manner to date," Gilliam said. "The results of our operation on Saturday night are absolutely staggering."

Twelve people were arrested on felony charges, including fleeing and eluding. Another 57 people were arrested on misdemeanor charges — including street racing and obstruction — while 74 citations were issued and 23 vehicles were impounded, he said.

Those arrested were also a range of ages, the assistant chief added. While 41 were charged as adults, 21 were charged as juveniles. One couple, who brought their 1-year-old and 3-year-old children to the event, were charged with felony child endangerment.

"I'm not here to judge anyone's life skills, but we've seen how deadly these events can be. So, you're talking about 10, 11 o'clock at night, sometimes in the early morning hours," Gilliam said. "Why are you bringing a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old to an event like this? What good can come out of that?"

The crackdown came after the death of a 13-year-old boy at a street racing event in February. Ethan Martin died after being hit by a motorcycle going faster than 100 mph at that event, which took place on 28th Street North near 110th Avenue North, police said.

The teen's death "motivated us a lot. It was a horrific scene," Sgt. Michael Schade with SPPD said during the news conference. "When you see something like that as a law enforcement officer or even as a normal person, you want to do what you can to prevent it from happening again. And that's what we tried to do this weekend."

Most who were arrested at Saturday's race are from outside Pinellas County, many traveling from across the state for the event.

Though Gilliam didn't share how the group communicates about these street races — or how police learned about the street racing location. But, he said, "People travel all over the state to different locations across the state. So, it's really a network."

During these "street takeovers," the groups use their vehicles and bodies to block off and take over an intersection or parking lot, Schade said. "Once they create a circle and shut down that location, vehicles will get in the middle of that circle and they'll do donuts and burnouts and things like that."

The location of Saturday's event is known for street racing, he added. "In the area in between the two buildings, there are already a significant number of donuts and burnout marks on the roadway."

Law enforcement will continue to target illegal street racing after Saturday night's arrests.

"This was an opportunity for us to make a statement to the street racing community that we're going to have zero tolerance," Schade said. "Through our investigative techniques, we'll continue to do what we do to discover these things before they take place and try to prevent them."