Louisville police to crush confiscated $100,000 Dodge Hellcat Durango

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- In its latest effort to deter and punish people who take part in illegal street racing and takeovers in the city, the Louisville Metro Police Department announced plans to crush an SUV confiscated in 2024.

According to a news release Tuesday from LMPD, the 2021 Hellcat Durango — with an estimated value of $100,000 — was confiscated in 2024. The decision was made to destroy the SUV instead of auctioning or repurposing it for LMPD because it has several stolen parts.

"I think the seriousness with which LMPD in our city has taken illegal street racing, this community has reduced the amount," Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said. "But you have to always be vigilant. We need to stay on top of it with both intelligence gathering and then quick response if and when it does occur again."

The department posted images of the Durango — along with the machine that will be used to destroy it — on its Facebook page Tuesday afternoon.

Greenberg will push the button to crush the Hellcat around 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Louisville Metro impound lot on Frankfort Avenue.

LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey will be available to answer questions afterwards, and a member of LMPD's Traffic Unit will be available for on-camera interviews.

"We are very serious about getting illegal street racing off our streets," Greenberg said. "And we've seized more illegal street racing cars last year than any year in history. And we want to continue to make the community know that we are being vigilant about that. So, this particular car cannot go back on the street. It's not street legal. We can't auction it off so tomorrow we're going to crush it."

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