ATLANTA — Atlanta Police are asking for help identifying four people the department says were involved in street racing last weekend.
The city has prioritized cracking down on street racing and episodes of laying drag/spinning donuts on highways and busy roads, something that has seen an increase during the pandemic.
According to police, the four men pictured in a flier the department is circulating were "part of a group that shut down the intersection of Northside Dr. near I-75 over the weekend."
"They blocked the ability of a marked patrol unit to interdict the illegal street racing going on and threw a firework towards his vehicle," the department said. "We aim to stop this illegal and disruptive activity and hold accountable those who participate in this dangerous behavior and bring them to justice."
Police are asking if anyone can help identify the four men, to call Sgt. Rodney Smither in the Auto Crimes Enforcement Unit at 404-209-5250 or Crime Stoppers Atlanta at 404-577-8477.
Last week the department announced that street racing suspects would no longer get bond as part of the crackdown. While many residents have complained of the increasing incidents in street racing, councilman Antonio Brown and other organizers held a press conference last night to push back against the policy, calling it a misguided rollback of bail reform that could "potentially re-populate the Atlanta City Detention Center with non-violent people."
"This legislation by Bond and others seeks to paint car enthusiasts as public enemy no. 1, but we know that it is just an attempt to hide their true intentions which is to dismantle our progress on ending cash bail in Atlanta," Devin Barrington-Ward, a community organizer and member of the Mayor's Taskforce to Reimagine the Atlanta City Detention Center, said in a statement.