Street racing proposal in DA’s office

Jen Lawson

Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2003 | 10:55 a.m.

More than eight months ago Metro Police provided the district attorney's office with a draft of an ordinance to make it illegal to be a spectator at street races such as the one that killed one driver and seriously injured a bystander early Monday in south Las Vegas.

Other cities have adopted such an ordinance to try to cut down on the crowds that encourage the racing. Metro's effort to get a similar law has been stuck in the Clark County district attorney's office since November. Two people have been killed by street racing in Metro's jurisdiction since June.

The proposed ordinance is in the hands of Deputy District Attorney Mitch Cohen. He said he agrees with the premise of such a law, that if you can discourage people from being spectators that may also discourage racing. And if it does that, the law could save some lives and prevent some injuries.

"Spectators encourage the events to occur," Cohen said. "Races don't occur in a vacuum."

But Cohen said he has to do more research for the ordinance and his progress will "depend on what my schedule allows."

He and other officials said that means a vote on whether to adopt such an ordinance is still a few months away.

That's a few months too late for Justin Lindsay, 31, of Las Vegas, and Aaron Harris, 22. Lindsay was killed after his Nissan 350Z crashed and burned during a three-car race about 1 a.m. on Bermuda Road. Harris, one of numerous spectators watching the race outside the Hurricane Bar and Grill, 10420 S. Bermuda Road, had both his legs broken and suffered other injuries when Lindsay's car jumped the curb and hit him, Detective Corey Moon said.

About a half-dozen people who had been watching the race were still at the scene when Moon arrived early Monday, but many others probably fled after the crash, Moon said.

The three men who raced down Bermuda Road and the people who stood outside and watched had been inside the nearby bar earlier in the night, Moon said.

The ordinance that Metro Police drafted last year was based on ordinances in Southern California. It would make it a misdemeanor to knowingly watch a street race, carrying a penalty of six months in jail, a $1,000 fine or both.

Watching an illegal street race would be akin to watching a dog fight or cock fight, he said.

Four jurisdictions in Southern California have adopted an anti-spectator ordinance.

San Diego passed the ordinance last fall, and San Diego County followed suit in June. Fourteen people were killed in 2002 on San Diego's city and county streets.

No fatalities have occurred since the ordinances have been in place, according to San Diego officials, and the number of people watching the races have declined.