DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Dallas police say a teen has been arrested for last Friday’s street racing incident that took the life of a 73-year-old woman who was walking her dog.
They’ve also identified a second teen driver and are working to make an arrest.
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Almost every day Linda Pearson would walk her dog, always taking time to check in on her neighbors.
“She would say Hi to everyone here in the neighborhood,” Axel Arguello said. “She was really nice.”
Dallas police said she was struck by a black Chevy Impala racing a yellow Chevy Camaro down Ferguson Road last Friday afternoon. Both drivers left the scene. Pearson and her dog did not survive.
“When I heard what happened I wasn’t surprised,” Arguello said.
“We just got to slow people down,” Vikki Honkala said. “How that happens I don’t know.”
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Tonight, Councilwoman Paula Blackmon hosted a virtual community meeting to address this city wide problem, inviting Police Chief Eddie Garcia.
“We are working hard,” Paula Blackmon said. “We are working to get this right.”
Garcia said that — in the last year — the Street Racing Task Force has answered 8,300 calls, issued more than 7,000 citations and made more than 1,000 misdemeanor and 200 felony arrests. 1,000+ vehicles have been towed.
“This department is working very hard however we’re not doing enough collectively,” Garcia said.
He now wants to see more public education on the dangers of street racing, legislation that will help deter it and the engineering of city roads to make them less attractive to street racers.
From narrowing Ferguson to lowering the speed limit, tonight city transportation officials told residents they’re considering multiple options to make the road less attractive to street racing.
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Anyone who witnesses street racing can use the iWatch Dallas app to report it to police.
Erin Jones
Her passion for journalism began in elementary school. For a 5th grade graduation memory book, she was asked what do you want to be when you grow up?…More from Erin Jones
