JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol have made 22 arrests in connection with “Operation Braking News,” a crackdown on racing at car meet-up events around Jacksonville.
Sheriff T.K. Waters said the operation was spurred by citizen complaints and the high number of traffic deaths the city has seen this year.
“Time and time again, citizens approach me at events, while I’m out running errands, while I’m out with my family, reporting reckless driving,” Waters said during a news conference Tuesday announcing the results of the operation. “Jacksonville citizens are tired of their roadways being rendered unsafe, and they have empowered me to use the resources of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to catch those who violate traffic laws.”
WATCH: Press play above to watch the sheriff’s full news conference
Waters shared footage captured at several car meetups that he says shows criminal behavior, including burnouts and reckless driving.
News4JAX found that about a dozen people were booked into the Duval County jail over the weekend on charges tied to street racing after a video circulating online appeared to show a large car gathering at Tinseltown with a heavy law enforcement response.
When News4JAX reviewed the JSO inmate search, we found at least a dozen bookings between Saturday and Sunday for charges including violating Florida’s street racing/stunt driving law, operating a motor vehicle in a “street takeover,” racing on a highway (including passenger/spectator charges), and fleeing or eluding.
Waters said the 22 men and women charged as part of Operation Braking News are facing a variety of felonies and misdemeanors, including street racing, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, resisting law enforcement, illegal firearms possession and drug possession.
He said JSO also issued 28 traffic citations and civil traffic law violations during the crackdown.
Street racing and reckless driving are illegal in Florida and can lead to arrest, fines and license suspensions, and in some cases felony charges for repeat offenders.
Waters also pointed out that even being a spectator at a street racing event could cost you.
“Under Florida law, law enforcement can issue you very expensive civil citations for spectating street racing events,” Waters said. “So please know that just because you’re not driving does not absolve you of liability at these events.”
If you see street racing or reckless driving happening in real time, call 911. For non-emergencies in Jacksonville, call 904-630-0500.
Not about car culture, sheriff says
Waters said JSO supports car culture but will continue to crack down when car meet-ups turn into street racing.
“Before anyone says that we’re just picking on young people in the car community, having good, clean, fun, let me stress that traffic fatalities hugely eclipse the number of murders in Duval County,” Waters said.
Jacksonville has recorded just 24 murders so far this year, compared to more than 100 traffic fatalities.
“If you park your cars in parking lots and raise the hoods so people can walk by and look at them, that’s great. We enjoy it. If you want to start them, that’s fine,” Waters said. “But when you go into a parking lot that’s owned by someone else, and you destroy their property, and then you take that activity out to our streets, we’re going to find you; we’re going to arrest you.”
Waters encouraged the community to get permission from the owners of the parking lots to have a car show and leave it at that.
“Don’t get onto the roadways. Don’t tear up their property,” Waters said. “Adults need to make adult decisions. It’s not our job to teach them that.”
Tinseltown meet-up raided
On Saturday night, News4JAX crews observed a law enforcement presence near the movie theater in the Tinseltown area off Southside Boulevard. Crews also saw vehicles being towed, including luxury cars. At the time, News4JAX did not receive details on what prompted the response.
On Monday, an Instagram reel using News4JAX video gained tens of thousands of views. The reel appears to show cars gathered in a Tinseltown parking lot, burnouts and then a large law enforcement response.
A worker at a nearby business said he watched it happen.
Seth Ouk, a sous chef at Soupa Noodle Bar in Tinseltown, told News4JAX he saw a large group of cars arrive and said drivers were showing off their cars when police moved in.
“Normally, I’ll see the cars in the Riverside area or something, but there were a bunch of dudes they come over here, and this particular section, and they meet up do burnouts,” Ouk said.
Ouk said the law enforcement response appeared coordinated. He said he saw about 20 police cars and a helicopter in the sky.
“This time it was like really quiet like clockwork — a bunch of cops came around and stopped all the exits,” Ouk said. “There were people coming out of the movie theater and they were siphoning them out of this little plaza that we have over here.”
“I’ve never seen a sting like that. It was actually pretty crazy,” he added.
The viral video and the police activity at Tinseltown follow News4JAX reporting last week on a separate social media post promoting what it called a “car meetup afterparty” in Downtown Jacksonville.
That now-deleted Instagram flyer listed E. Bay Street and advertised a Saturday night start time. When asked about that Downtown post last week, JSO told News4JAX it was aware and said it would monitor if an event occurred. A spokesperson also said the agency would take enforcement action if violations of municipal ordinances or state law were reported or observed.