Visalia police crack down on street racing, 38 citations issued in citywide operation
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Visalia police targeted unauthorized street racers in a citywide operation that netted nearly 40 citations over the weekend.
The city has seen an uptick in complaints from businesses and residents about drivers racing down Visalia streets at unsafe speeds, sometimes blowing through traffic lights, stop signs and zooming past pedestrians.
Groups of drivers often meet in parking lots along Mooney Boulevard and fan out from there, Sgt. Mike Verissimo said. Popular routes include Mary s Vineyard, Visalia Industrial Park, Houston Avenue and Ben Maddox Way, and anywhere else that they think they can race without getting caught, he said.
A two-vehicle collision left one person dead and sent another to the hospital early Wednesday morning.
Around 2:30 a.m., officers were called to a report of an injury traffic wreck at the intersection of Mooney Boulevard and Walnut Avenue. The intersection is the most traveled in the county and is near the Visalia Mall and popular In-N-Out, both of which were closed.
Two vehicles a Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck and a Honda Pilot SUV collided at the intersection.
Investigating officers said the driver of the Honda was westbound Walnut and drove through a red light at Mooney. The SUV broadsided the Chevrolet, which was southbound on Mooney.
Visalia s iconic A&W Restaurant has closed after 54 years of serving tasty burgers and frosty mugs of its signature root beer in downtown Visalia.
Co-owner Craig Van Horn grew up cleaning those classic mugs standing on top of milk crates before he could reach the sink in the restaurant originally opened by his father, Bob Cary, in 1967.
The longtime Visalia businessman says he s sad to leave his downtown home, but the profits just aren t there. While the families other Visalia A&W locations on Mooney Boulevard and Riggin Avenue benefitted from the coronavirus lockdown, the restaurant on Willis Street which doesn t have a drive-thru nosedived.