( c/o http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/23593.htm )
May 3, 2004
Dozens of undercover cops posing as racing fans slammed the brakes on two wildly popular but highly illegal drag-racing strips in Brooklyn and The Bronx - busting drivers and seizing their souped-up cars, The Post has learned.
Operation Dragnet - conducted over the past three weekends at Flatlands and Fountain avenues in East New York and Zerega Avenue in The Bronx - was a vrooming success, with officers arresting 19 people and grabbing 18 vehicles.
The cops also punished their fans, too - issuing 385 summons to spectators for offenses such as urinating in public and making excessive noise.
"We are applying our own Formula One. Arrests plus forfeited cars equals safer streets," Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told The Post. "If you are a drag racer, you can stay home or we will arrest you and take your car."
The crackdown had racing enthusiasts flipping out, saying the sometimes-deadly sport is a longstanding city tradition - one that's been popular since the 1950s when James Dean made it the rage in "Rebel Without a Cause."
At one of the recent racing nights in East New York, 125 people showed up to watch a group of customized Hondas and Acuras battle it out.
As Dale Earnhardt Jr. wannabes revved their engines and "judges" with flags prepared to start the race, spectators placed thousands of dollars in bets on their favorites.
That's when 30 undercover cops, who'd made friends with the crowd, quietly radioed uniformed and highway officers who surrounded the area just as the racers were ready to hit the gas.
Cops blocked off streets so that no one could flee. Then they made dozen of arrests, charging drivers with reckless driving and seizing their cars.
Two vehicles turned out to be stolen, while some racers were hit with additional charges of driving with suspended licenses, driving while intoxicated, and having forged vehicle numbers or documents. Two also had outstanding arrest warrants.
Spectators who thought they'd simply walk away had another think coming, as cops who'd watched them booze, urinate and carry on whacked them with quality-of-life summonses.
Yesterday, fans of a Web site dedicated to illegal drag racing in the Big Apple were fuming.
"This was a f- - -ed day full of [cops] hitting every spot we know," wrote one person on the site's bulletin board.
Another wrote, "The cops should open up the street next to Flatlands and make it a drag-racing street. It's a quiet street and would not disturb the people who live in the area."
That's never going to happen.
Operation Dragnet will continue, according to Inspector Richard Graf, commanding officer of the Highway District, who's spearheading it.
In fact, Francis Lewis Boulevard - where two teenagers were mowed down by drag racers just weeks ago - and Conduit Boulevard, both frequent spots for illegal drag racing in Queens, are now also under surveillance.
