Baton Rouge has had multiple incidents of reckless driving in the last several months.
The most prominent event happened after the Garth Brooks concert on April 30. A group of reckless drivers attracted a large crowd that blocked off College Drive at Interstate-10.
Since this incident, there have been several cases of reckless driving in Baton Rouge leading to the Baton Rouge Police Department starting to crack down on the issue. Lieutenant Don Coppola with BRPD has said that there have been arrests made in connection to these cases.
During these events, individuals typically do stunts like burnouts, donuts and drag racing.
He said that not only are these stunt dangerous for drivers, but they are also endangering the spectators that gather to watch them.
Although he could not speak on what type of punishments could come from these arrests, he did say that people could be charged with obstruction of a highway and additional charges depending on the situation.
According to Louisiana Statues, aggravated obstruction of a highway of commerce is “the intentional or criminally negligent placing of anything or performance of any act on any railway, railroad, navigable waterway, road, highway, thoroughfare, or runway of an airport, wherein it is foreseeable that human life might be endangered.”
Aggravated obstruction of a highway of commerce is a felony with a maximum penalty of imprisonment, with or without hard labor, of 15 years.
Individuals said to be involved with the College Drive incident were repeat offenders that had been issued reckless driving citations in the past. Reckless driving of a vehicle can be punishable by at most a $200 fine or 90 days imprisonment on first conviction. The second and subsequent convictions are punishable by either or both a maximum fine of $500 and six months jail time.
The East Baton Rouge Metro Council passed an ordinance for $500 to $1,000 fine for drag racing last year. The ordinance also allows police to impound any vehicles used in illegal drag racing for at least 15 days.
Coppola said that BRPD is focused on increasing investigations into these matters. He said they are focusing on locating the areas where reckless driving and car stunts occur most to deter these actions.
Coppola said reckless driving and car stunts have been popular near Choctaw Drive and the intersection of Tom and Airway drives. Top Golf on Siegen Lane is another popular spot for these stunts.
Baton Rouge is not the only city facing this issue recently. New Orleans and Lafayette have had these issues as well. In New Orleans, two individuals were caught on video jumping onto a New Orleans Police Department vehicle during a car event.
Coppola recommended that anyone who has information on potential reckless driving acts or car stunts that are going to take place to contact Crime Stoppers at 225-344-7867.