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Phoenix police warns against street racing ahead of holiday weekend

Posted at 10:27 PM, Jul 03, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-04 01:57:36-04

Ahead of this holiday weekend, police are warning potential street racers to stick to the track. 

Sgt. Mercedes Fortune with Phoenix police said illegal street racing is something they’ve seen happening across the city in recent years. 

“These type of incidents and this type of behavior results in fatalities,” Fortune said. 

“I think a lot of people think that late at night, there’s not [as many] people on the roadway, ‘it’s OK for us to do this type of thing’ it’s not,” she said. 

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In late May, 22-year-old Luis Condado-Pio was arrested by the Arizona Department of Public Safety for allegedly racing in an area known by racers as “bridges” near 22nd Avenue and McDowell. 

Troopers said he was going 91-miles-an-hour in a posted 25-mile-an-hour zone. 

Nhan Nguyen, the owner of the nearby Local Motion tire shop, said races happen on the street almost every weekend. 

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“They’ll come and do burnouts, or they’ll race for money, or just for fun,” he said, adding he’s also seen fights and “a lot of crazy things” happen at the races, which often draw large crowds. 

One business in the area told ABC15 their fence was knocked down by an illegal racer, prompting a neighboring business to put up a concrete barrier in front of their property.