4 suspected street racing organizers charged in Tacoma following summer arrests
Four men suspected of organizing street-racing events in Tacoma have been charged in Tacoma Municipal Court after they were arrested over the summer, police said Tuesday.
The men, who are between the ages of 18 and 20, recently were charged with a total of 26 counts of aiding and abetting reckless driving, according to Tacoma Police Department.
Multiple police agencies worked to arrest the men, including the Washington State Patrol, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and police departments in Kent, Lakewood and Ruston.
Police said detectives submitted 13 cases documenting illegal street racing and intersection take-over events in Tacoma from mid-January to March. The events typically involve groups of people blocking off intersections or gathering in warehouse parking lots for cars to spin in circles, sometimes drifting dangerously close to onlookers.
When one suspected organizer was arrested in June in Tacoma, police said officers had been conducting emphasis patrols for street-racing events since January. Two other suspected organizers were arrested in July in Pierce County and in Algona. A fourth was arrested in April at a residence in Puyallup. It’s unclear whether the four suspected organizers arrested over the summer are the same men who have been charged.
Tacoma Municipal Court handles criminal cases involving misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor offenses that occur in the city. The cases are prosecuted by the Tacoma City Attorney’s Office.
This story was originally published October 5, 2022 at 8:19 AM.
