ALPHARETTA, Ga. — You can hear the noises of illegal street racers for miles as they shut down major intersections across metro Atlanta.
Channel 2 investigative reporter Ashli Lincoln is learning that street racing that once only plagued city streets is spreading to the suburbs of metro Atlanta.
Over the weekend, the busy Brookhaven intersection at Briarcliff and North Druid Hills roads was shut down by cars drifting and people standing inches away watching.
Brookhaven police say this was the city’s first street racing incident in two years.
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It isn’t only an issue in Brookhaven. Lincoln spoke with a driver in Alpharetta who said she was on her way home Sunday morning when she found herself in the middle of what she called a chaotic nightmare.
“There was no escaping it,” the driver who didn’t want to share her name said. “It was crazy, very crazy.”
She said that she initially thought she was pulling up to an accident at Winward Parkway and Deerfield Parkway when she realized it was an illegal street racing event.
She called police immediately, but says it took them more than 20 minutes to arrive.
“This was a long time. I’m the third car in line at this light watching this, and nothing. I watched that red light change 15 to 20 times before anyone came or anything got broken up,” she said.
Alpharetta police confirmed to Channel 2 Action News that they broke up the event, but did not make any arrests.
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Psychologist Dr. Rosalynn Pitts Clark says one reason street racing hasn’t died down since the pandemic began is the growing attention it is getting online.
“It is a huge adrenaline rush for the participants and I think that rush overcomes them,” she explained. “Because people can race and post immediately, they become somewhat of local celebrities because of all the likes and views these videos get.
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Atlanta police say that during a nine-month street racing detail last year, they made 661 arrests.
One theory as to why racers are heading out of the city is the growing police details targeting them in Atlanta, Clayton County and DeKalb County.
Police in Brookhaven and Alpharetta say they are monitoring these situations aggressively.
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