(AP) RIALTO, Calif. - Charles Hoang winced when the whoosh went out of the tires. Daniel Maldonado took pictures with a digital camera as glass exploded and rained down to the ground.
The cars the teens had so meticulously souped up and tricked out were crushed Wednesday as part of a crackdown on illegal street racing in Southern California.
"That’s my heart, my dream," said Hoang, 18, of Chino, who was surrounded by friends as his 1998 Acura Integra was put into a compactor. "That’s my girlfriend, the love of my life. The cops can crush my car, but they can’t crush my memories."
Authorities destroyed six vehicles Wednesday at an auto graveyard, hoping would-be racers think again after looking at the mashed machines. Illegal street racing is responsible for or suspected in 13 deaths in Southern California since March.
The thrill-seeking, adrenaline-pumping activity is rampant in Riverside and San Bernardino counties east of Los Angeles where rows of tract homes line wide streets that attract racers.
Nearly 1,000 people _ drivers and spectators _ have been arrested for investigation of street racing activities over the past two years in San Bernardino County alone. Police need a court order to destroy the cars. They must prove that the serial or identification numbers on a vehicle or its parts are removed, altered or destroyed.
Police said they have managed to reduce illegal racing and related fatal collisions, but know the underground hobby still thrives.
"We are making a dent," said Ontario police Cpl. Jeff Higbee. "But it’s summertime and ... we expect to see more activity."
Hoang said he was caught late last year racing his prized car, on which he spent at least $10,000 to get into top shape. The 350-horsepower engine topped out at 160 mph, Hoang said, swearing it could beat a Corvette or even a Ferrari.
When police popped open the hood, Hoang said, they found a stolen transmission. Hoang flashed a receipt for the transmission he bought from his father who runs an auto shop and doubted the item was hot.
"Everything on that car was practically brand new," Hoang said as he watched his car get moved to auto death row. "They should take out the stuff that matters, auction it off, and give the money to charity."
Because racers put heavy stress on their vehicles, they often burn out or blow up parts. Higbee said the need for the expensive parts has created a "theft mill" where additional cars _ usually Hondas or Acuras _ are stolen and stripped of the necessary replacements.
Most of the cars police examine are illegally modified. Sergio Zavala, 18, was pulled over in his 1993 yellow Honda Civic for a broken tail light in December. He had purchased a B-20 Vtech engine with a double-overhead cam a couple months before, and after a police investigation, was told it was stolen.
Zavala, who admits he’s been involved in street racing, estimates he and his mother spent about $10,000 on improvements to his car.
After watching his Civic demolished, Zavala is left without a car as he plans to attend a fire academy in the fall.
"It’s heartbreaking to see this," said Zavala, who graduated from high school last week. "This is where all my time and money went."
Maldonado also said he put plenty of time and effort working on his 1992 black Honda Civic. He was stopped in November by police in what Higbee described as an area where racers gather.
The 18-year-old mechanic said a vehicle identification sticker apparently fell off and without it, police suspected some of the parts were stolen. Maldonado stood several feet away from his car as it was pounded into a heap of metal.
Maldonado said he has taken the advice of police by racing legally on one of several race courses around Southern California. For the money spent in fines and other penalties _ on average about $5,000 for illegally modified cars _ Higbee said street racers could compete about 250 times a year at a legitimate track.
"If you have to race, take it to a legal venue," Higbee said. "But as long as they keep racing illegally, we keep crushing their cars."
All three men who saw their vehicles destroyed said they believe illegal street racing will continue to prosper across the region.
"It will never go away," Maldonado said. "If it’s in your heart, you will continue to do it until you can’t anymore."
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
...nije bila lijepa, al imala je para...dakle, bila je simpaticna....
This post was last modified: 08-18-2007 03:46 PM by faya69.
The windows on a Honda explode as it is crushed by Ontario police Wednesday morning February 28, 2007 in Rialto. The vehicle, which contained stolen parts, was confiscated during an Ontario police street racing sting last August. (Will Lester/Staff Photographer)
RIALTO - The constant popping sound of crushed cars and breaking glass was unmistakable. Two Honda Civics with stolen transmissions and engines were crushed Wednesday at Ecology Auto Parts in Rialto after the cars were impounded and a judge ordered them destroyed following an illegal street race in 2006.
The demolition, coordinated by the Ontario Police Department, was meant to highlight what happens when people illegally street race: They won't get their cars back. At one time or another, the speedsters and their souped-up vehicles have descended on cities countywide, law-enforcement officials said.
Thefts have become a costly side-effect. Racers frequently steal the engines and transmissions they use or they purchase cars from auctions after the cars are stolen, stripped and have a "clean title," said San Diego police Detective Tim Coyle.
His department launched Dragnet in 2001, a program that law-enforcement agencies in San Bernardino County and elsewhere have copied as a way to cut down on street racing and auto thefts that support the habit.
Thefts and illegal racing happen everywhere, local authorities say.
"We have episodic incidents of car thefts," said Redlands Police Chief Jim Bueermann. "We find cars that have certain parts missing. I would not surprise me if they were going to these kinds of cars."
Several months ago, Rialto police heard of a street racing group headed their way. Officers quietly watched them and taped the race before breaking it up and citing drivers and passengers, impounding several cars and arresting nine people, said Detective Gary Cunningham.
In San Bernardino, street racers briefly created a race course along Hospitality Lane before officers began following and citing drivers for illegal equipment on the vehicles, said Lt. Scott Paterson. cq
For most cities, however, the problem is occasional or cyclical.
Ontario police, however, battle street racers with some regularity, authorities said. Through the years, the department has become an authority on the subject.
Street racing often takes place in the eastern part of Ontario along Etiwanda Avenue and Mission Boulevard and in parts of Fontana, officials said.
Data from Ontario police shows that more than 500 Acuras and Hondas are reported stolen each year, said Cpl. Jeff Higbee.
Between June 30, 2004, and July 1, 2006, Ontario police arrested 224 people in connection with illegal street racing, Higbee said. Another 822 people were arrested throughout San Bernardino County.
The San Bernardino County Regional Street Racing Task Force - which includes the Ontario, Chino, Montclair and Upland police departments, San Bernardino County sheriff`s officials from Rancho Cucamonga, Victorville, Fontana and Chino Hills, and the California Highway Patrol - is making an effort to slow down street racing.
The goal of the task force is to reduce the number of people injured or killed in street-racing collisions. The state Office of Traffic Safety funds the program through a $5 million grant that is distributed throughout the state, Coyle said.
As a result of the task force and speed bumps being installed in Ontario, street racing deaths in the city decreased from seven in 2004 to one in 2006, Higbee said.
Back at Ecology Auto Parts in Rialto on Wednesday, a yellow tractor placed the Hondas into a crushing machine. Pressure at about 1,500 pounds per square inch was used to flatten the cars, said Mark Menadier, marketing director for Ecology Auto Parts.
...nije bila lijepa, al imala je para...dakle, bila je simpaticna....
RIALTO, June 20, 2007 (KABC-TV) - Six cars were crushed at a recycling plant Wednesday morning. The cars were impounded during illegal street races in San Bernardino County. Some of the registered owners were actually there to see their cars reduced to scrap.
It can take a lot of time and a lot of money invested into building these street racers -- but they can be legally destroyed in just a few seconds.
Proof of that statement was on display in Rialto Wednesday morning, where several impounded cars were crushed and stacked atop each other.
Enforcement efforts against both organized and impromptu street racing is having some success inland. Racing often leads to death or injury. At a Rialto dismantling yard, something positive is being done about it.
Cpl. Jeff Higbee, Ontario Police Dept.: "We had 13 people killed in street racing collisions in the last three months. Of those 13 people that were killed, only two of them were actually driving the race cars. The other 11 people were either passengers, pedestrians, or innocent motorists in other cars."
Six vehicles in total were destroyed. They were impounded by a street racing enforcement team, fronted by Ontario police and supported by a number of area agencies.
Cpl. Jeff Higbee: "All of the cars have either illegal transmission, or an illegal engine in them. We went through the criminal process on the cases that we could. All of the cars have been through a civil process, for having numbers removed or stolen parts in them. And they've been ordered to be crushed."
Twenty-year-old Charles Hoang of Cupertino was cited for street racing. He was on hand to see his car crushed.
Charles Hoang, street racer: "I learned my lesson. But, I may end up opening a car shop doing this. I'll never stop any kind of racing stuff -- I'll take it to the track. No more streets. I learned my lesson on the streets. You don't want to race with all those tickets on the streets."
Officials say there are some legal drag strips open to the motorist who want to test their cars against other cars, and they suggest that they use them. In the long run, it would be far safer far less expensive.
...nije bila lijepa, al imala je para...dakle, bila je simpaticna....
This post was last modified: 08-18-2007 04:05 PM by faya69.
e vidis, kod nas bi sa ovim dobili kontra efekat,
kad bi kod nas htjeli zaustaviti nekog racera, koji je u auto ulozio %#$&#_@
i znao da ce mu auto razbiti, bjezao bih tako da bih rusio sve sto stane na put...
OMG kakvi debili
Ernes Jusovic, Sarajevo...prvi auto koji sam kupio bio je ustvari NEKRETNINA, neki stari Mercedes, star 40 godina, koga je lik donio na kamionu ispred moje kuce. I onda je tu stajo jedno 5-6 godina, ali ja sam ga prao svake nedelje. Posle sam ga iznajmio komsiji da leze kokosi u njemu pa smo djelili jaja...
Search
Member List
Calendar
Help
