Street Racers Dominate Concerns at Community Policing Meetings

Many complaints about street racing occupy McKinley Park's recent community policing meetings. Solutions to the loud and vexing problem are few, and police say they are stumped.

“Depending on the size of the crowd, officers are told to monitor and not engage,” Chicago Police Department community policing Officer John Matich said at the Beat 912 meeting on January 10, 2024, at the McKinley Park field house.

“Officer safety is the issue. Shots may be fired at police cars; bottles are thrown,” he said.

Street Racing Migration

Street racing activity has migrated from the Riverside and River’s Edge shopping mall parking lots along the 3100 and 3200 blocks of South Ashland Avenue, which shut off racers’ access with extra security and barriers that closed the lots at night.

Beat 912 meeting attendees now report racers in the McKinley Park neighborhood on Ashland south of West 35th Street, around West Pershing Road and South Western Boulevard, and at South Hoyne Avenue and West 32nd Street.

Totally Outnumbered

The activity usually happens after 11 p.m., when the fewest number of officers are deployed on streets, Matich said. Often one police car is assigned to investigate, and the lone officer in that car may encounter 100 people in scores of cars.

From left to right, Chicago Police Department mug shots show Damian Bello, Ronald Benitez and Adrian Hernandez, arrested on December 29, 2023, at Richard J. Daley park on alleged vehicular and gun charges.

“We are totally outnumbered,” Officer Christopher Gonzalez said at the November 8, 2023, community policing meeting for Beat 912. The racers relish being chased by police and publish the pursuits on social media channels, he said.

Not Enough Teams

More often than not, the street racers return to the area in about an hour, Gonzalez said. “We shoo them away, and they just come back later.”

Matich said citywide police teams are assigned to street takeover hot spots: They throw down stop sticks, impound cars and make arrests. However, street racing is prevalent across the entire City of Chicago, and there are not enough teams to stop the racers, he said.

Launched Infiniti

Chicago police Beat 911 and 912 officers have logged a number of recent arrests relating to street racing and stunt driving, including Ronald Benitez, Damian Bello and Adrian Hernandez, three men from Aurora, Illinois, arrested on a variety of alleged vehicular and gun charges on December 29, 2023, at Richard J. Daley Park, 3150 S. Western Ave., Chicago.

As reported by Chicago crime news publication CWB Chicago, the three allegedly attempted to flee from police in a black Infinity automobile, with alleged driver Bello getting stuck on railroad tracks after speeding up and launching the car from a gravel access ramp.

Traffic Circle

In 2022, the City of Chicago passed an ordinance implementing fines up to $10,000 and impounding vehicles used in street racing, stunt driving and street “takeovers” where bystanders use their cars to block roads.

Bill Drew, 12th Ward Alderwoman Julia Ramirez’s chief of staff, said at the January 10 community policing meeting that one possible solution at 32nd and Hoyne is to install a traffic circle in the middle of the intersection.

Beat 912 Stats

At the meetings, police officers also shared crime statistics for Beat 912, including for the period from November 8, 2023, to January 9, 2024. This included 2,384 calls for service, including 96 for street racing.

During this period, police received 50 reports of shots fired and 16 reports of domestic battery. They made 23 arrests — four involving the use of firearms — and noted 14 violent crimes, including 11 robberies, six of those with firearms. On December 22, 2023, police reported a shooting in the 3600 block of South Hoyne Avenue.

Next Meeting in March

Also during this period, police recorded 35 property crimes, including theft and 20 motor vehicle thefts.

The next Chicago Police Meeting for Beat 912 is set for 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13, 2024, at the McKinley Park field house, 2210 W. Pershing Road, Chicago.