JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 The Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office made nearly a dozen street-racing-related arrests over the weekend.<\/p>\n
The ages of the arrests range from 20 to 34, with the majority being men in their early twenties. Descriptions of the arrests include violating street racing laws in street takeovers, violating street racing and stunt driving laws, and racing on a highway.<\/p>\n
Florida Statute 316.191<\/a> states that upon a first offense, street racing charges could qualify as a first-degree misdemeanor \u2014 a crime punishable by up to a year in jail.<\/p>\n \u201cThese people doing 130, 140 down the highway in their cars just because of, I don\u2019t know, if it\u2019s ego, pride, whatever \u2014 that could end somebody\u2019s life,\u201d said Derek Hutchinson, a car enthusiast.<\/p>\n Hutchinson says he\u2019s been a part of the car community for over a decade, but in recent years, he\u2019s noticed that street racers have left their mark.<\/p>\n He says that while driving to a car meet-up in Georgia, he witnessed the reckless behavior firsthand.<\/p>\n \u201cThey weren\u2019t racing for money; they weren\u2019t racing for slips; they were just racing, just for the adrenaline,\u201d Hutchinson said.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why Hutchinson said he put a petition together several years ago to help open a designated drag strip at Callahan Speedway, but despite its recent opening, he says the problem on local streets still persists.<\/p>\n \u201cJust doing burnouts, and you know, donuts, and racing,\u201d Hutchinson said. \u201cIt turned from car culture to danger.\u201d<\/p>\n There were several car meet-ups advertised this past weekend, but we have not yet heard back on whether these arrests were related to these events.<\/p>\n Action News Jax is still waiting on the arrest reports. We\u2019ll update this article with more information as it becomes available.<\/p>\n >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n