At its April 24 meeting, the Sparks City Council passed a new ordinance making it illegal to be a spectator at street races, speed exhibitions, or sideshows. Anyone caught promoting, instigating, aiding, or helping these events will be issued a misdemeanor.
Before now, the Sparks Municipal Code did not have ordinances preventing people from gathering at these events, which are considered dangerous and illegal. Local law enforcement believes that spectators encourage this behavior while further endangering the public and themselves.
“We’ve seen a growing amount of sophistication and coordination of these street racing activities and I think one person aptly put it, ‘If there’s no audience then there’s no accolades’,” said Sparks City Attorney Wes Duncan.
Illegal street racing and sideshows have become a big problem at an alarming rate in Northern Nevada, and several law enforcement agencies have been working tirelessly together to stamp down these types of events. The police are also seeing a rise in gatherings taking place in parking lots and intersections. Street racers are also becoming more brazen as they organize events outside of the Reno/Sparks area via social media and then travel to the region to host the illegal event.
Last year, local law enforcement agencies issued a number of citations that derived from illegal street racing/sideshow events. In April of 2022, 47 citations were issued and 42 traffic stops were made. Then in July, 77 police officers from the Reno PD, Sparks PD, Nevada State Police, and Washoe County Sheriff’s Office issued 128 citations, made 16 arrests, and 23 people were cited for watching the events. In September of 2022, Reno and Sparks police responded to multiple street racing takeovers, eventually shutting down Victorian Avenue for safety purposes. Racers then took over parking lots at Walmart and Target and congregated in Reno and Sparks’ industrial areas. The night resulted in two felony arrests, 33 citations issued, 10 misdemeanor arrests, and 14 vehicles were towed.
City Attorney Wes Duncan believes that having an ordinance in place for watching illegal street racing events will help deter the racers and spectators and help the Sparks PD’s ability to enforce laws against street racers in the community.
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