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Cops Issue 54 Tickets in Illegal Street Race

By Indrani Sen, Staff Writer

2003 December 01 10:06 PM EST

The scene that police officers came upon at 2:15 Sunday morning on an
industrial strip in Yaphank wasn't straight out of Hollywood. The young men and
women racing souped-up street cars weren't quite as extravagantly stylish as
their counterparts in movies such as "The Fast and the Furious." And there was a
noticeable dearth of supermodels.

But otherwise, all the elements of an action film were there -- unfathomably fast
cars growling alongside each other as the starting flag came down; an elaborate
system to prevent detection of the illegal street race, including last-minute
phone chains and police-frequency scanners; and even a breathless and
dangerous police chase that scattered passers-by.

Suffolk police issued 54 traffic tickets, mostly for speeding and equipment
violations, on about 35 "tricked-out" cars, impounded three vehicles, and
arrested one man who they say sped through a Newsday distribution center full
of workers as he fled. Arthur Wray, 18, of Central Islip, was charged with
second-degree reckless endangerment.

The crackdown on street racing along Old Dock Road was a response to
complaints from nearby businesses that hundreds of young people regularly
gathered there to race, as well as to the deaths in July of Jerold Loudoux, 22, of
Manorville and John Lagadinos, 23, of Lake Ronkonkoma, who were racing
motorcycles on the road, said Insp. Mark White.

Fifth Precinct officers, assisted by Highway Patrol units, had a few tricks of their
own, White said. Knowing the racing rings monitor police scanners, dispatchers
did not put the call out over police radio. Instead, they used the mobile
computers to coordinate the response.

The mother of one of the motorcyclists who died in July, Debra Loudoux, said
she was glad to see the stepped-up enforcement and hopes it deters young
people from racing there in the future.

"Once it goes on for awhile, they think that's the place to go and that it's OK, but
it's not," said Loudoux of Manorville. "I feel that should have been watching the
area better."

But racing devotees insisted that the sport is safe when properly practiced.
"They usually go to somewhere with as little traffic as possible, as little people as
possible," said Adam, 21, of West Islip, who did not want his last name used.
Among the real racers, he said, "it's frowned upon for people to go on highways
because it's dangerous."

Kevin Krieg, 36, whose family business, S-K Speed Racing Equipment in
Lindenhurst, has been a well-known name in Long Island's high-performance car
scene for four decades, said despite the changes in racing over the years, the
bottom line is the same.

"When you go on a roller coaster and you go over the first hump, how do you
feel that split second?" he said. "That's what drag racing does."

Krieg, who said he and his shop do not condone street racing, blamed the illegal
racing on the decline of the drag-racing tracks he used to frequent, such as
National Speedway in Center Moriches. The Island's last remaining track, the
Long Island Dragway in Westhampton, is due to close within months so a senior
condominium complex can be built.

"You're never going to get rid of the kids' need and want to go fast," he said, "so
what you've got to do is channel it properly."

Adam said he and his friends race mainly for the fun of it and not for the
winner's pool, which tends to be a few hundred dollars. His interest in racing
came from his father, he said, though his taste in cars has diverged. The older
generation tends toward the American muscle cars, whereas many younger
racers are "hot-rodding" smaller imported cars such as Honda Civics and Nissan
Altimas by opening up their exhaust systems and intakes, fitting them with
racing tires and adding canisters of nitrous oxide to boost the horsepower.

"You could buy a new Camaro, and with the money you spend on that, you'd
have to do a lot more work to a Honda to make it even compare," Adam said.
"It makes the challenge of beating one even more fun."

John Reina, 40, whose produce delivery business, Suffolk Banana, is on Old
Dock Road, said he understands the fun of it -- he used to race himself. But the
two wooden crosses on his front lawn that commemorate where the young
motorcyclists were killed in July have given him a different perspective.

"I feel bad that there's not a place for the kids to go, but I don't think this is the
place for them to do it," Reina said. "I don't want them dying anywhere, but I
especially don't want them dying on my lawn."

Copyright � 2003, Newsday, Inc.