Watching a street race could soon lead to fines and jail time in Santa Ana

It may soon be illegal to watch street races in Santa Ana.

The City Council provided initial approval Tuesday to an ordinance that allows the police to target spectators who are knowingly attending a street race within 200 feet of the event. Although a violation of the ordinance may include a maximum of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, the city must first provide a written warning to any accused spectator.

Council members came to the decision to include the written warning after some heated debate on the controversial ordinance, which was ultimately approved with a 4-3 vote. Mayor Vicente Sarmiento, and council members Johnathan Hernandez and Jessie Lopez dissented. Because this is the first reading of the ordinance, the council will provide final approval at the next council meeting.

The ordinance is meant to deter people from attending street races, which have been a problem in Santa Ana and other parts of Orange County. Some contend that spectators encourage street racing by promoting the events on social media. The presence of spectators may also attract street racers looking for an audience.

But some council members on Tuesday questioned whether targeting spectators is the right move, and whether it would lead to innocent people being cited.

“Living in this community my whole life...I’ve seen tons of horrible things that I did not want to see,” Hernandez said. “As soon as we heard something happen outside — myself, my neighbors, my grandmother, my mom — we all would run outside and watch what would happen. It would not sit well with me to see a cul-de-sac have a street takeover unwillingly, then residents come out of their houses, or come out of their business establishments, and be fined. I wouldn’t want to see that happen. That’s my concern.”

Santa Ana is not the only city wrestling with how best to quell the rise of street racing. Anaheim adopted an ordinance that punishes spectators along with San Diego, Ontario and San Jose, among other California cities.

The dangerous events have led to serious consequences in Orange County. In January, longtime Orange County Register editor Eugene Harbrecht was killed when a car that was street racing hit his truck. A month before that, a beloved Huntington Beach videographer was killed while filming an illegal street race in Carson. Daniel “Dano” Patten was known for filming car shows and other events around the city.

During a presentation to the council on Tuesday, traffic Commander Chuck Elms said two people were killed in July due to street racing. The deaths came amid a significant increase of street racing and intersection takeovers in the city. Elms said the city has cracked down on street racing since then, which has resulted in fewer incidents in the city. The focus on punishing spectators is seen as the next step in deterring street racing.

“One of the main reasons for street racing and one of the biggest attractions to the street racers, are spectators,” said Councilwoman Nelida Mendoza. “So it is putting these spectators in danger and risk of being hurt or killed. So I believe that by issuing citations to those who violate the law is appropriate because it could be saving their lives, and eventually it will decrease the number of spectators.”

Lopez said she would rather police target the drivers involved in illegal street racing.

In response, Elms said the department does target drivers, but they can only pursue one or two vehicles at a scene because officers have to navigate through hundreds of spectators. Elms said spectators intentionally block and vandalize police cars, giving the drivers a chance to get away.

“We need to be able to not only target these drivers, which we have been doing, but also the spectators,” Elms said. “If we start targeting spectators, they will stop coming to Santa Ana. That’s what we want.”

Phan eventually made a motion to add to the ordinance that spectators be given a written warning before any fine or misdemeanor could be filed against a person. Her motion, which was approved, requires the warning to be issued before any fine or infraction, and a fine or infraction must be issued before anyone is subject to a misdemeanor.

“I understand the desire to have something that has a lot of teeth to it,” Phan said. “The goal is to deter this dangerous activity, not necessarily to cite people, or give them a misdemeanor record, or charge them fines. We want to prevent a dangerous activity from happening, and a written citation, which we would have on record, would help us do that...If you see the person the next time, it’d be very hard for them to claim, ‘I was just passing by,’ given that we have a history of them being warned.”

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.