LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Two men accused of street racing at speeds exceeding 100 miles an hour on the Watterson Expressway earlier this week have been released after their arrest, but they won't be getting their cars back anytime soon. 

Eighteen-year-old Jason Wei Wu and 26-year-old Justin Wade Smith both pleaded not guilty in court on Feb. 14, days after they were booked into Metro Corrections early Feb. 11. 

Wu and Smith were racing at high rates of speed late Monday night on I-264 West, near Poplar Level Road, according to court documents. LMPD mentioned their arrests in a Facebook post. 

One car -- allegedly driven by Smith -- was clocked at about 123 miles per hour; the other car, with Wu allegedly behind the wheel, was clocked at 119 miles per hour. The speed limit is 55. 

LMPD said officers also found a Samurai-style sword in the dash of one of the cars. Both vehicles will remain impounded for at least the next six months, as required by the city's recently passed street racing ordinance.

Police shared photos of both cars at the city's tow lot on Frankfort Avenue. 

Wu and Smith are charged with speeding, reckless driving and street racing. Their next court appearance is scheduled for April 18.

The crackdown on street racing in Louisville has intensified, but city leaders say more action is needed. Mayor Craig Greenberg is urging state lawmakers to pass a bill that would impose harsher penalties on repeat offenders, like destroying cars involved.

This week, Rep. Beverly Chester-Burton, D-Louisville, filed a bill alongside Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, which would make Louisville's ordinance state law and require vehicles to be confiscated and destroyed upon a second offense.

"Those that are into this type of activity obviously love their cars and love to showcase what their cars can do," Rep. Chester-Burton said of street racers. "They would like to see that (car) taken care of rather than taken away."

According to the Metro Louisville, in 2024 the city confiscated more cars than in any year in history, but Greenberg wants to crack down even more.

Greenberg, who was criticized this week by some Louisville Metro Council Democrats for, among other things, his push for legislation to destroy cars used in street racing, hopes the bill passes.

"There is no place on the streets on Louisville for this type of behavior, and we need to crack down on it," he said. "That's what this bill will help us do even more than we're already doing."

House Bill 465 will first need to be heard in a committee in Frankfort before heading to the House floor.

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