Fort Worth police crack down on street racing takeovers – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Video shows chaos erupting at a busy intersection near homes and businesses in South Fort Worth on Sunday evening.

Around 10:30 p.m., dozens blocked traffic for stunt riders, turning the intersection of Berry and Hemphill Streets into their playground.

“You could hear the tires squealing and all I thought was, Oh my God, they're going to run someone over,” Sharon Smith said.

Smith told NBC 5 that Sunday's takeover was one of several she's heard about since she moved into the neighborhood two months ago.

Despite calls to 911, the events did not stop.

“Will it take one of these children crashing into our house and killing us?” she said.

“There are a lot of things going on. People are just trying to show off and show off, but that’s not going to happen here in Fort Worth,” said Fort Worth Police PIO Buddy Calzada.

Calzada said the department received more calls about street takeovers and racing between spring break and the upcoming summer.

The department has prioritized reckless driving enforcement, in part using legislation passed last year to toughen penalties for participants.

“We work with all of our units in the department. Our gang unit will help us, certainly our directed response unit. They take the lead and make a lot of these arrests,” he said.

The video shows the moment Sunday evening, shortly before police arrived, when a witness in traffic noted that this silver SUV had driven into the crowd before someone else fired a gun.

Police arrested five people, two for reckless driving and three for spectating.

“Is someone who wants to race illegally doing donuts on our streets? Here's the real spoiler. They will go from zero to arrest in minutes,” Calzada said.

But this comes with challenges and the department says it needs the community's help and is urging those who see something to say something.

“Anyone who continues to call us, please send us your video and evidence so we can charge these dangerous people on your streets,” he said.