Police arrest three suspects in Fort Worth street race that blocked freeway traffic
Three men suspected of street racing on a Fort Worth freeway near downtown were arrested on Thursday.
Calls started coming in to police about 10:15 p.m. that multiple vehicles were “hotrodding” on the freeway and stopping traffic.
One caller said traffic had come to a complete stop, while another caller said a white vehicle was doing doughnuts in the southbound lane of Interstate 35W, south of Texas 121 and north of Spur 280.
Police reported encountering the traffic hazard in the 1800 block of the North Freeway in the southbound lanes.
Jakob Bunyard, 17, is facing a charge of failure to wear a seat belt, according to Jimmy Pollozani, Fort Worth police spokesman.
A preliminary investigation revealed that Bunyard was hanging on the left rear door ledge of a pickup truck, was not wearing a seat belt and was using a cellphone as if recording video, Pollozani said.
Shody Porter, 23, is also charged with failure to wear a seat belt.
Police investigators concluded that Porter was hanging on the right rear door window ledge, was not wearing a seat belt, and was using a cellphone as if recording video.
The suspected driver, Paul Brewer, 21, was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving.
The preliminary investigation indicated that Brewer was impeding traffic and driving recklessly by “burning rubber” and doing “donuts” along with racing on the highway.
All three men are listed as racing on the highway suspects because they were actively participating and promoting racing on a highway and reckless driving by filming and impeding traffic and illegally closing the entire freeway, Pollozani said.
Video footage from dash cameras and 911 callers of license plates has been forwarded to detectives, according to Pollozani. It is possible that other charges will be filed in this case, Pollozani said.
