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Three-hundred people gathered on a private property in Lakeland to participate in illegal street racing, officers said. (Lakeland Police Department )
POLK COUNTY, FL Fifty-three arrests on charges of illegal street racing were made in Lakeland in an area popular for speeders on Sunday, the Lakeland Police Department said.
Many complaints about street racing in the 6000 block of First Park Boulevard were received by the Lakeland Police Department, Polk County Sheriff s Office and Florida Highway Patrol from property owners and tenants in the area. The three agencies worked together in the No Need for Speed operation.
Detectives went to 6870 First Park Boulevard on Sunday, where a crowd of 300 showed up for illegal street racing, authorities said. No Trespassing signs are visible on this property. Officers said they saw several people driving recklessly by doing burnouts and donuts in the parking areas.
And, they said, proceeds from the event would benefit cancer research.
A crowd of about 300 people gathered in between warehouse buildings, with sport-coup drivers pushing down the gas and brake pedals simultaneously to do donuts. They also drag-raced from one end of the large parking lot to the other.
Video from the event shows a driver, hanging out the window of his car doing donuts just a few feet from spectators.
And then Lakeland police, who had gotten wind of the event, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol showed up in force, blocking the two exits.
Illegal racing led to dozens of arrests in Polk County during an event over the weekend attended by hundreds of people. However, street racing wasn’t the only illegal activity uncovered, officials said.
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