LOUISVILLE, Ky. — There are now 66 cars in Louisville's impound lot that are connected to street takeovers, according to Louisville Metro Police (LMPD).
They said they've impounded those cars over the last six months thanks to the street exhibition ordinance.
Leaders like Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, Police Chief Paul Humphrey and state lawmakers think the appropriate next step is to create a law that would crush the cars of convicted street racers.
And that bill could be introduced as soon as January.
"They're doing it willfully, they know what their doing, they're being dangerous, and they don't care about anybody else," state Rep. Jason Nemes of Dist. 33 said. "But they do care about their car. So I want them to watch it get crushed."
Police say a street race on Bardstown Road ended in a crash that killed 77-year-old Lorraine Wacker and seriously injured her husband.
In a courtroom on Wednesday, the detective in the case said Yusinier Pecheco Bernal drove at 119 miles per hour and never touched the brake before the crash.
"It's egregious," Humphrey said. "And somebody's life was lost in this incident and another life was horribly turned upside down and I fully support prosecuting them to the fullest extent of the law."
Police said racing on that part of Bardstown Road is common.
"There is no questions that he was involved in racing," the victim's lawyer said. "We saw the video. He was going more than 100 miles per hour. He wasn't just being passed by another car."
The detective testified that Bernal was driving a white Mustang, and another man, Adam Steele, was driving a blue BMW.
Both drivers are facing wanton endangerment and racing charges, while Bernal is charged with complicity to murder.
"We will push for legislation to be able to seize these cars and destroy them permanently," Humphrey said.
But Nemes said seizing cars isn't enough.
"So I think it'll probably take a couple cars to be crushed to probably get the message," he said. "And we're very serious about it, but I think not only should we crush the car, but we should make them watch it."
Humphrey sees crashes like this one as another deadly crime impacting Louisville.
"Violent crime is our priority, but keeping people safe is our number one," he said. "So whether that's traffic enforcement or violent crime interruption, we're going to do both of those."
Humphrey said he thinks the legislation will be best created in the statehouse, but even Greenberg came out in support of car crushing to help reduce street racing and takeovers.
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