LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Street takeovers have been disrupting valley neighborhoods now for years, hitting each end of the valley.
Metro Police have even started their own task force to stop it.
Neighbors in multiple areas told us they reported it, but then said they hung up the phones if their wait was too long after dialing 3-1-1. And that’s the problem Metro Police wanted to solve during a crowded community meeting.
Before that meeting, FOX5 learned that the problem goes well beyond street racing, and neighbors are demanding answers from Metro and county leaders.
They’re fed up with reckless driving at the intersection of Lamb and Hacienda.
Neighbors tell us racers are out there every night. But they’re not just stepping on the gas. They’re apparently pulling the trigger!
“My house got rattled up, about 15 rounds. I had eight in my wall and five in the house. Almost hit my granddaughter, almost hit me.” That’s according to a homeowner, who didn’t want to go on camera. He showed us where the bullets hit his property the other day.
But Metro Police, and county commissioner Jim Gibson say that’s news to them, since they were looking for just one driver doing donuts in the area based on a video and a complaint from mid-November.
“When we meet like this often we learn things we didn’t know. We thought we were responding to a particular person who was using the intersection at Lamb and Hacienda and turns out that it is reported that there is considerably more street drifting and racing going on in the area and we’re on it,” said Gibson.
Community members hope so. One neighbor pushed back on Metro Police Captain, Jeff Clark saying it’s more than one driver causing all this havoc.
“What times are those happening? Because I’m gonna help you. We’re on the same team here,” Captain Clark said. “I want to find this these people and take them to jail. I’d love to take their cars because then we can seize them and drive them ourselves.”
That led to a back-and-forth exchange with the captain offering residents his personal email and phone number.
Metro Police can only go off of what’s called in saying following up on reckless driving is a two-way street.
“If we have it documented, then there’s more that we can do,” Captain Clark said. “I only have one call for service in the last 15 days.”
As for that shooting, FOX5 asked Metro for more details and will update this story when we get more information.
The neighbor who says his house was shot up by reckless drivers says they likely choose that area because there are no cameras, no speed bumps, and nothing in the road that will slow them down.
But that could all change.
At Wednesday’s meeting, the Clark County Public Works department suggested several fixes, including installing speed bumps and cushions, rumble strips, and performing pavement milling, which would tear up your tires if you try doing burnouts.
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