Dallas Residents Pleading For Police, City Leaders To Do More About Street Racing Issues

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Some residents in a Dallas neighborhood want police and city leaders to do more about a problem that's keeping them awake at night.

Just before 2 a.m. Sunday morning, it started with fireworks and then spectators began blocking an intersection. It was followed by a pack of street racers taking over the streets of Victory Park in front of the American Airlines Center, with no one around to stop them.

"It happens quite frequently and this was probably the most extreme of all of them," resident David Levine said.

"If you're trying to have just a relaxing Friday night or go to sleep a little bit early, it's loud enough that two blocks away I can hear it in my bedroom quite loudly," resident Jayne Harvard added.

Residents who recorded videos believe it's the same group that shows up almost every weekend, dating back as far as April.

They say the group is getting bigger and bolder.

"This was by far the most intense, lots of fireworks and no one could believe how long it took the police to get here. And I support the police," Levine said.

Street racers often get away, leaving behind only skid marks as evidence. The Dallas Police Department has a task force to address it and the city council has promised more action.

"It's the exact same time, exact same day of the week you would think with how many people of been complaining about it would have been dealt with by now," says Harvard.

So why is this continuing to happen?

City council member Jaime Resendez, who has been advocating more enforcement and helped pass a new ordinance targeting spectators, said: "Obviously, we are not where we need to be right now because the activity is continuing. I do think that we all need to remain involved in terms of the community and those of us on the City Council and Dallas Police Department."

Dallas police issued a statement saying, "We are aware of the racing/speeding incident that occurred overnight in the Victory Park area. With several hundred spectators/participants to contend with, the department was constrained by limited resources. However, with the assistance of the Dallas Sheriff Officer, we were able to clear Victory Park, but not before issuing several citations to spectators/participants."

Police said it has issued thousands of citations, towed tons of cars and made multiple arrests since forming a street racing task force to address a problem it calls quote, "a plague on our city."