Law enforcement agencies in the Lower Rio Grande Valley area are cracking down on drivers drag racing on frontage roads.
Due to growing concerns about the racing, the Cameron County Sheriff’s Office, Brownsville and Rancho Viejo police departments, and Cameron County Precinct 4 constables have been on patrol looking for drag racers, authorities said.
“Illegal drag racing is a dangerous activity that puts the lives of both the participants and innocent bystanders at risk. We would like to inform the public that drag racing on a public roadway is a crime and subjects caught drag racing can be arrested,” said Investigator Michael Parker, spokesman for Brownsville Police Department.
Cameron County sheriff’s deputies Sunday arrested Ruben Saldivar Jr., 19, and Emmanuel Saldivar Jr., 20, each on a charge of racing on the highway.
A sheriff’s department investigator traveling northbound, in an unmarked patrol car, on Interstate 69 saw a Chevrolet Camaro and a Ford Mustang line up against each other, the sheriff’s department said in news release.
“At this time, both cars accelerated, started racing and reached speeds of up to 100mph. The investigator followed both vehicles as they exited on Business 77 in San Benito,” the news release said.
The investigator contacted the sheriff’s dispatch command center and sheriff’s deputies located the drivers of the Camaro and the Ford Mustang at the 9600 block of Anacua Drive in Olmito, the news release said.
The men were arrested, charged, and booked into the Carrizalez-Rucker Detention Center. They have since been released from jail.
According to section 545.420 of the Texas Transportation code, racing on a highway is a Class B misdemeanor. A Class B misdemeanor is punishable by confinement in jail for a term not to exceed 180 days and a fine not to exceed $2000, Parker said.
There is also a Texas House bill and a Senate bill that addresses drag racing with Senate Bill 1495 calling for jail time of up to one year and a fine not to exceed $4,000.
House Bill 2315 goes further stating vehicles caught in street racing can be seized and forfeited.
