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CCPD: Nearly 200 arrests, impounds made for street racing and reckless driving this year

Police continue to ramp up patrols along the Corpus Christi Bayfront after a series of viral videos show drivers turning Shoreline Blvd. into their own drag strip.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It's a hot button issue in the city: street racing and dangerous driving, and an uptick of viral videos showing cars using downtown streets as their own drag strip.

More and more of those videos are popping up online.

The Corpus Christi Police Department is ramping up its enforcement saying those videos are now helping in their investigations.

It's something the department has been fighting head-on since the beginning of the year.

When the sun goes down over the Bayfront, the night lights up for CCPD officers.

Corpus Christi police are cracking down on speeders and reckless drivers along Shoreline Boulevard.

"Right now, the downtown area seems to be getting the highlight, there's different areas of town that are being effected as well the quality of life for citizens, loud noises the speeding stuff like that, addressing it not just downtown but all over the city," said Deputy Chief James Lerma.

A disturbing video released by CCPD, taken over the weekend by a bystander shows a car doing multiple donuts then losing control.

It then collides with a parked motorcycle and a person was forced to jump out of the way.

Police say the driver has been arrested and charged on three outstanding warrants.

"In essence you are trying to control a 2,000-pound vehicle and even the professionals get it wrong, you got some amateur drivers, trying to do that and just like you see in some of these videos, they lose control, they're careless about their driving, people and property get injured or hurt," Lerma said.

He said the police department is taking the matter very seriously and said this type of activity will not be tolerated.

Since the beginning of the year, the nighttime traffic enforcement unit has made nearly 200 arrests and impounds for reckless driving and racing.

Now, they're doing even more by stepping up enforcement in places like the barge dock across from the American Bank Center.

It's where another video shows a person thrown from a car going around in circles.

The parking lot is littered with tire marks.

During the day, the site is a popular fishing spot for folks like Eric Guerra.

"Every weekend we are here, there is always something especially when they block off this area just to have this empty, [the drivers] cruise on by, couple of donuts and head out," he said.

The city also installed large trailers in the middle of the lot as an interim solution.

Lerma said it's about remaining visible in order to discourage this type of activity from happening.

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