ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol said they’re seeing a spike in drag racing arrests in a developing Orange County community.
Investigators told Channel 9's Samantha Manning that the racing has been happening more along Boggy Creek Road and Lake Nona Boulevard; an area that is under a lot of construction.
“Sometimes late at night, I heard the sound of car engines revving up very loudly and you can hear the tires I guess burning out, screeching, going down the road,” said Lake Nona resident Anthony Jordan.
Jordan said he’s lived in the area for five years and has seen the aftermath of a crash.
"I've even seen a car that was flipped upside down sitting in the grass,” Jordan said.
FHP said there were 75 drag racing arrests in Orange County from all agencies in 2016.
"Once that construction started up in the Lake Nona area, we saw a sudden spike in it (street racing),” said Steven Montiero with the Florida Highway Patrol.
FHP has a DUI enforcement unit that goes after dangers drivers. They said aside from stiff penalties from drag racers themselves, bystanders can also be arrested for watching the races.
"I've seen it. 75 to100 plus cars and you put that many cars in such a small area, and you have a couple of bad people in there that want to drive crazy, people are going to get hurt,” Montiero said.
FHP said drivers gut their cars of safety equipment to make them lighter for racing.
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