More than a dozen people including alleged organizers and participants in illegal street racing and intersection takeovers have been arrested by authorities in Miami-Dade and Broward in recent days, officials said.
Authorities say the events are organized online and participants show up and block lanes of traffic while racing, drifting, or doing donuts and other stunts, police said.
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One alleged organizer, 19-year-old Alexis Perez, was arrested on 16 counts of facilitating drag racing, Miami-Dade Police officials said Wednesday.
Police said Perez used a chat application under the name "Melt_Me_CC." to promote and advertise numerous takeover events in Miami-Dade County and other Florida counties.
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The latest takeover happened around 2 a.m. Sunday, when a large group gathered at the intersection of Northwest 27th Avenue and Northwest 54th Street.
When police showed up, the spectators surrounded the marked cars to prevent participants from being arrested, police said.
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"These takeovers are blocking emergency vehicles. At that time of the night someone could be experiencing a medical emergency or we could be responding to a shooting and that’s stopping our units from getting to the scene because they are taking over the intersection," Miami-Dade Police Det. Chris Thomas said. "They purposely set up these meets and they have individuals that purposely block the intersections so that they can do their stunts in the middle."
Perez was later arrested while he was driving a red Chevrolet Camaro with a “Melt_Me_CC” sticker on the side-window of the car, police said.
The six others arrested in Miami-Dade were identified as Jose Guadalupe Brizuela, 20, Bill Alexander Martinez-Rivera, 19, Edgar Damian Escamilla, 18, Austin Diaz, 18, and two 17-year-olds.
Perez is the sixth organizer arrested in Miami-Dade since police began their crackdown in December.
“This is the sixth organizer of these illegal street takeovers that we’ve had within the last year," Thomas said. "Of course there have been numerous arrests in between but these are the persons that are organizing and participating in these meets that are really dangerous on our streets."
A similar crackdown has led to numerous arrests on similar charges in Broward County.
The Broward Sheriff's Office said Wednesday that they arrested seven suspects in two separate incidents on Friday and Saturday. They also seized four vehicles and recovered a firearm.
On Friday, detectives learned that dozens of suspected intersection takeover vehicles were gathered in the 5300 block of West Atlantic Boulevard in Margate. The vehicles traveled to a warehouse area off of Green Road and Powerline Road in Deerfield Beach, where one arrest was made.
Then on Saturday, detectives learned of an intersection takeover group gathered in the 4700 block of South State Road 7 in Hollywood. Deputies made six arrests and issued nearly 60 citations, officials said.
One of the arrestees, 21-year-old Roberto Gutierrez Vogt, promotes and organizes intersection takeover events online, officials said.
Authorities have said street takeovers and stunt driving incidents have been on the rise in recent years, and are extremely dangerous for participants, spectators and other drivers.
"With these actions, it’s compromising public safety. You have individuals and spectators standing feet from these vehicles while they’re doing these reckless acts which are compromising lives," Florida Highway Patrol Maj. Roger Reyes said.
In a state law enacted in 2022, it is illegal to participate in street racing. That includes takeovers, drag racing, donuts, burnouts, wheelies, drifting and other related activities that can create unsafe roadways. Besides jail time, drivers can have their license revoked and face fines upwards of $5,000.
