CHP tackles street racing and speeding: Agency issues more than 400 citations in sting last weekend.
Source: Sacramento Bee
Date: June 15, 2006
Author: Loretta Kalb
A contingent of 20 to 35 CHP officers, each working mainly four-hour shifts, patrolled city streets from 2 p.m. Friday to 2:30 a.m. Sunday, CHP Sgt. Evan Williams said Tuesday.
The work, funded by grants from the state Office of Traffic Safety, began after Elk Grove Police Chief Bob Simmons accepted the state agency's invitation to help tackle the city's street-racing and speeding problems.
Anthony Mondragon, 15, died June 2 at the scene of a crash on Franklin Boulevard at Roselin Way in Elk Grove. Elk Grove police said a Camaro driven more than 100 mph by 18-year-old Clinton Colon hit the Honda in which the younger boy was riding.
Mondragon and his brother, 17-year-old Chris Parker, were en route to visit their grandmother in Elk Grove. Both of Parker's legs were shattered.
"These things do result in horrific incidents when kids or anyone engages in street racing," Simmons said Tuesday. "It's absolutely illegal, absolutely dangerous and absolutely irresponsible."
Simmons said he met with the CHP Valley Division commander, Chief Stan Perez, after the CHP offered help.
In addition to the more than 400 citations, the CHP's weekend "zero-tolerance" program produced 18 arrests for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and 13 vehicle impoundments.
Simmons said more operations are expected this summer.
While Elk Grove is not alone in its street-racing problems, it does have long straightaways and wide streets such as Franklin Boulevard that attract racers, Williams said.
The weekend enforcements involved two CHP initiatives: Specialized Enforcement Against Racing and Rapid Apprehension of Impaired Drivers.
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