Dallas Police Say Joseph George Was The Off-Duty Officer Injured During Suspected Street Race
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Dallas Police Department identified the off-duty police officer who was behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang that crashed into a tree in someone's yard on Sunday.
Officer Joseph George is a four-year veteran of the department and assigned to the Northeast Patrol Division.
Police said he was speeding in the 7200 block of Mockingbird Lane in a black Ford Mustang and was involved a possible race with a white Suzuki.
He remains in critical condition.
Police are still looking for the driver of the two-door Suzuki.
During the alleged race, police said the officer somehow lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a tree, which was in the front lawn of a nearby home.
According to police, witness statements and surveillance video from residents confirmed their suspicions about what may have led to the crash.
The tire marks left by Officer George's car stretch the length of a football field.
Just five seconds after Officer George speeds through the frame of the doorbell security video, you can hear his car braking, then crashing.
Those who live near the accident site say this is far from the first time street racing has occurred off East Mockingbird.
"I'm 28. I've heard this my whole life," Alexandra Lippas said. "It's horribly dangerous, it's horribly dangerous!"
"Regularly cars are going 60, 70 mph down residential roadway right there," Thomas Wynne said.
On top of bringing awareness about street racing, homeowners want to see more traffic lights and speed bumps installed to help prevent future incidents.
Early Sunday morning, eight miles away in North Dallas, a street race down Spring Valley ended in one teen crashing into a traffic light pole.
"It literally sounded like an explosion went off and I barreled out of bed and looked out the window and saw someone in the front yard and basically just told my wife to call 911," David Kinney said.
Kinney said miraculously all four teens in the car survived. One still in critical condition. He hopes this serves as a learning lesson.
"It's not worth the 10 seconds of adrenaline to fly down the street and basically almost lose somebody's life," Kinney said.
