Minnesota State Patrol street racing crackdown yields 4 citations, 1 arrest

(FOX 9) - The Minnesota State Patrol said it issued four citations and arrested a man during a crackdown on illegal street racing Friday night in the Twin Cities area. 

According to the State Patrol, 19 drivers were stopped for speed. The four cited drivers were clocked at 112, 112, 102 and 97 miles per hour. 

One of the stops resulted in an arrest of a man who had felony warrants. That suspect fled a state trooper and was later found in a house and taken into custody. 

"We want drivers to understand that excessive speeds can lead to life-changing consequences," said the State Patrol in a Facebook post. "Combine speed with racing other vehicles and the consequences can change families lives forever." 

The State Patrol said street racing is a "growing" problem on Twin Cities area freeways. 

In April, authorities investigated after street racers were seen going through the Lowry Tunnel downtown Minneapolis on I-94. The next month, a group of street racers gathered in Uptown Minneapolis and were seen throwing rocks at police who responded to the scene. 

Last fall, the State Patrol and other law enforcement similarly cracked down on street racers. 

"They’re almost like a flash mob; they pop up in a moment’s notice, they communicate over social media and as soon as we get enough resources to deal with it, they move onto the next location," Minneapolis Police Lt. Nick Torborg told FOX 9 last fall.