We’ve all heard the slogans before. “Click it or ticket” is a good one, and so is “Drive sober or get pulled over.” But by the looks of it, police officers will have to come up with a new one to keep people from participating in street takeovers. In the meantime, this highly publicized crushing of a Dodge Durango Hellcat will have to do.
Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Paul L Humphrey and the city’s mayor, Craig Greenberg, put on the PR stunt Wednesday afternoon. They went live on Facebook and invited local media to a news conference, where they talked about Louisville government’s no-nonsense stance on street racing.
“This is a message to people who want to go out and participate in this dangerous behavior,” LMPD Chief Humphrey said. “We are not going to tolerate it on the streets of Louisville.”
Humphrey admitted that he “would have loved to have thrown this car in the fleet if it were street legal.” Unfortunately, it wore stolen parts from several different cars. The owner wasn’t prosecuted, however, as they were allegedly unaware of its shady origins. This particular Durango Hellcat was seized at last year’s Street Rod Nationals event, so it has sat in the LMPD’s possession for a minute.
Of the 167 vehicles LMPD has seized for street racing and takeovers since 2023, four of them have gone to auction. Humphrey explained that the proceeds from those auctions went directly to the department. None of them has been added to the fleet as of yet, though from the sounds of it, that’s on the table for future scenarios.
“When we hear about illegal street racing or takeovers in any part of our city, LMPD shows up and shuts it down,” Mayor Greenberg exclaimed. He then drew attention to Louisville local Myrtle Wacker, a 77-year-old who was killed by a street racer in October 2024. In that case, a Ford Mustang driver was racing a BMW at 120 miles per hour when it struck Wacker and her husband, himself a 74-year-old who was seriously injured.
Mayor Greenberg then pushed the button to seal the 710-horsepower SUV‘s fate.
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From running point on new car launch coverage to editing long-form features and reviews, Caleb does some of everything at The Drive. And he really, really loves trucks.
