Racing, rodeo, St. Paddy's Day and spring break could make for perfect storm this weekend
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- TX 2K-19 is a racing event in Houston this weekend, but law enforcement says with it often comes an influx of street racing.
It's why you'll see officers cracking down on racing this weekend, big time.
"Anyone that races in Harris County this weekend is going to go to jail," said Sean Teare, Chief of Harris County District Office's Vehicular Crimes Division.
RELATED: 4 people arrested for illegal street racing in Harris County
Teare says law enforcement will saturate the roadways. Agencies across Harris County are joining in on the effort. They will be keeping an eye from the sky, there will be marked and unmarked patrol cars.
"We're also going to have undercover cars. If you don't intimately know the person you're racing and you decide to street race, you very well could be racing a police officer," said Teare.
Chief Deputy De Leon said that every year, the TX2K race event in Baytown attracts thousands of people from all over the nation.
"It's rolling races, standing still races, it's all kinds of races," De Leon said.
Sometimes they decide to take the racing onto the highways.
Dash cam video shows how two racers slow down on the highway to 30 mph, then signal at each other and then speed off.
"It is extremely sad," De Leon said. "You have this tragedy where a drag racer ran right into someone and killed them."
Which is why this weekend, all law enforcement will be patrolling specific areas looking for those who take the racing out of the track and onto a public roadway.
"If they do this we will prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law," De Leon said.
