Louisville mayor considers crushing confiscated vehicles to deter street takeovers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Street racing is keeping Louisville Metro Police busy.

Just this week, they have seized almost 20 cars. Mayor Craig Greenberg wants to do more than just seize cars. He wants to destroy them.

"One innovative approach that some other states are taking are not only are they confiscating car, but when they confiscate cars, they crush them. I strongly support legislation," Greenberg said.

Over the past several days, LMPD has seized almost 20 cars, most of them used to block traffic for street takeovers.

Wayne Prather lives right across the street from one of street takeovers on Preston Highway.

"It was loud. A lot of loud music, and horns blew all night long doing donuts," Prather said.

The parking lot on Preston Highway holds the evidence — tire marks etched into the pavement. Prather said there were thousands of people in this parking lot over the weekend.

"That (number) is an under statement," Prather said.

It took police a couple of hours to clear the parking lot. Prather watched the whole thing from the comfort of his lawn chair.

"I guarantee you there was probably 13-15 cars out there that night before gettin' rid of them," Prather said.

Tuesday afternoon, LMPD seized five cars used to block traffic in a parking lot. Metro Council recently added more details to the street takeover ordinance such as police are now able to take the vehicle if it was used in street takeover or spinning event, regardless of who was driving.

"And our focus is one, apprehending the individual and their vehicles that are partaking in this activity," Greenberg said.

Prather said the parking lot across the street from his house is the unintentional host of dozens of spinning events every year. The one last week he said was for Mexico's Independence celebration.

"Ya know, we are old, we don't do nothing so we just sit out here and watch it and just pray no one gets hurt and gets run over or gets thrown out of a window," said Prather.

The cars seized from street racing and takeovers will sit in the LMPD tow lot until March 2025, and there is a $1,000 fine to go with it, according to the ordinance.

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