Bricks thrown, shots fired, reckless driving: KC police want street racing to stop
Violence broke out Tuesday evening in Kansas City as groups of street racers traveled across town, some turning to guns and bricks, police said.
At least two people were shot, an officer’s vehicle was damaged by gunfire and dozens of people were ticketed as street racers tore through the city, according to the Kansas City Police Department.
Capt. Dave Jackson, a spokesman for the department, said during a news conference Wednesday that people around the city Tuesday evening called police because groups were driving like “maniacs.”
Such reckless behavior, he said, can turn deadly.
“These people are driving in a way that is so selfish that they don’t realize that they are sharing these streets with the rest of the city and these streets are here for law-abiding citizens to use and for commerce to happen,” Jackson said. “We don’t pave these and pay for these just for you to spin your tires on them.”
Police said officers received several calls Tuesday night about street racing, dangerous driving and shots fired. The calls came in from downtown to Front Street, with a few further south as well.
One caller told police that shots were fired near East Truman Road and The Paseo while racers were in the area, police said. Baseball games were in play nearby at the Kansas City MLB Urban Youth Academy at the time of the shooting.
Two people were believed to have been wounded by gunfire during the racing, police said. Both were checked in to a hospital with gunshot wounds.
One confirmed he was in the area of the racing when he realized he’d been shot. The second person was reportedly unconscious, but in stable condition.
One officer’s vehicle was damaged by gunfire as they responded to the scene. Some of the racers also threw bricks at police on Interstate 435 from the 23rd Street overpass, according to police. No officers were injured.
Police said officers “caught up to the racers” about 9:45 p.m. at East 17th Street and Manchester Trafficway, where about 150 vehicles were blocking the street.
Police said they “boxed the racers in” and put out Stop Sticks, or spike strips, to stop the vehicles. Many of the between 50 and 60 vehicles that fled the area were hindered by the strips.
By the end of the evening, police issued 67 tickets and towed 18 vehicles — many of which had hit the Stop Sticks — according to the department. Those ticketed face fines up to $500, Jackson said. Police also found a gun and a stolen vehicle.
“This is not just some fun thing kids are doing on the weekend,” Jackson said. “These are violent encounters and this is not the look, I don’t think, that we want for our city.”
Jackson said the department is working on solutions, and has tried a “multitude” of responses to street racing. He said the department continues working with partners to consider putting ordinances in place to cut down on the illegal activity.
In December, the department announced they would start cracking down on groups of motorists who gather at busy intersections in Kansas City to perform burnouts, “donuts” and other dangerous maneuvers.
Police at the time said they planned to increase patrols in targeted areas such as downtown and other locations, where the illegal activity has taken place. Officers responding to calls of street racing treat the incidents as a disturbance call and disperse the crowd, but officers have said they will not chase vehicles on traffic offenses. They also said city officials planned to introduce municipal ordinances that would seek to impound vehicles and impose harsh penalties on those who own the vehicles caught performing such stunts.
The December announcement came shortly after motorists were filmed blocking a busy intersection in downtown Kansas City as they preformed street racing stunts, including “donuts,” in front of the T-Mobile Center.
Last September, 19-year-old Daisy S. Martinez was killed and another person was injured during a shooting on Southwest Boulevard where a group of “dozens if not hundreds” of people had gathered to watch drag racing, as well as motorists perform car stunts, according to police.
Months earlier, seven people were shot in three separate locations following altercations that broke out after more than 1,000 people and hundreds of vehicles gathered at an illegal racing event in the 7100 block of Eastwood Trafficway.
Jackson asked anyone who witnesses street racing to call police.
“There are a lot of things that happen in this city that we’d like to address our attention to and focus on other than violent crime and people spinning their tires,” Jackson said Wednesday.
The Star’s Glenn E. Rice contributed.
This story was originally published February 24, 2021 at 3:29 PM.
