DALLAS – A large crowd packed the streets and sidewalks along S. Polk and West Ledbetter for a car show on Sunday. Amateur video from witnesses shows it was a car show that included tires spinning into clouds of smoke, cars performing stunts, and street racing.
The big problem, according to neighbors and city leaders, the car show was unauthorized.
Neighbors in the Southern Hills and Glen Oaks communities complained about the illegal car show that led to a lot of chaos along busy intersections on Sunday afternoon.
”Polk street was completely blocked off,” said Ronald Cooper. He and his wife, Thelma, witnessed the unauthorized car show. They say some of the participants were cutting through their Southern Hills neighborhood at excessive speeds.
The Coopers estimate several hundred spectators were lining the main streets and watching the action.
“There were children there with their folks. There were a bunch of people coming to see the show. They called it a car show," Thelma Cooper explained.
Neighbors called the crowd and the spectacle a nuisance. Many of them complained and called 911.
Street racing has been a big nuisance for neighbors across Dallas. City leaders call the pop-up events unsafe, disturbing, and illegal.
Sunday’s car show played out in part of Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway’s District Three, before police cracked down.
"I will tell you this one thing… Now that I’ve seen what I saw on yesterday, it will stop especially in my area,” explained Caraway. “We will have paddy wagons and everything else ready as soon as we know that’s where they are, and that’s what they are doing.”
The streets near S. Polk and W. Ledbetter are stained with black circles. There are tire marks left from those vehicles that performed donuts in the area. Caraway says he’ll be asking the Dallas Police Chief to make illegal racing among enforcement priorities.
“They need to go to a place that is designated for them to do that type of thing," Cooper said.
Dallas Police Department has not responded to inquiries about its response to Sunday’s street racing calls.