Oklahoma City police arrested more than 150 people in a major crackdown on illegal street racing over the weekend.
According to Sgt. Dillon Quirk, 114 adults and 40 minors were taken into custody during what police called a “street takeover” and “illegal speed contest” near SE 66th Street and Interstate 35. The operation involved nearly four dozen officers and lasted over 12 hours, starting around 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 17, and ending around 6 a.m. Sunday.
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Authorities charged the individuals with unlawful assembly and participating in or watching an illegal speed contest.
“One of them is a state statute, the other is a city ticket, so they’re misdemeanor charges,” Quirk explained. “We were given information of a gathering of an illegal street takeover for that area for that timeframe, and some of it was in the private parking, but all of the arrests were effected due to activities on the public roadway there, on the city street.”
Police impounded over 60 vehicles and seized firearms and drugs found at the scene. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol also responded but didn’t make any arrests.
Raul Anaya, 31, the owner of Rocket Wrapz, was identified as the event organizer. He was released from the Oklahoma County jail on a $1,000 bond on Monday, May 19. Anaya told News 9 he had planned a family-friendly event with food trucks and snow cones to give teens and young adults a positive activity.
However, he claimed that “police treated him like a criminal.”
‘A Large-Scale, Coordinated Effort’
Quirk described the arrests as “a large-scale, coordinated effort.” This incident follows previous mass arrests targeting illegal street racing. In June 2023, police arrested 110 people at a warehouse on S. Pole Road. In August 2021, nearly 70 individuals were arrested at a parking lot near W. Interstate 240 Service Road.
Since early 2020, social media videos have shown street racers blocking metro area exits and performing dangerous stunts like doughnuts—spinning cars in circles to leave skid marks.
The recent enforcement sparked backlash on social media and became a topic of concern among local officials.
Brigitte Biffle, Oklahoma County’s chief public defender, said the influx of arrests overwhelmed the already understaffed jail. With just six detention officers working nights and weekends, processing delays left many detainees—some of them high school students—waiting in custody for days.
“There were over 100 people arrested for that. Yes, a lot of them are high school kids who are now missing (school) … and we only have a certain number of officers to book all those in,” Biffle said.
“(With) that amount of officers, that is taking days. That is completely unacceptable and that’s unconstitutional, when someone is supposed to be posting your bond and you’re staying in there for hours afterward. Yes, I have numerous concerns.”
