Suspect wanted for dangerous street racing near The Varsity

ATLANTA — Just days after we told you about dangerous and illegal racing going on along a busy Midtown Atlanta street, police have released new video of one of the suspects.

Police went through hours of video to pinpoint the driver.

Last week, police said they would search through social media and surveillance videos. Now, they have a suspect they need to find.

Police say the man seen in a video is just one of several suspects they’re searching for.

Atlanta police say he’s one of the drivers involved in some of the illegal street activity happening at Ponce and Spring streets.

“Oh, it’s usually between midnight and 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning. People out here cheering and raising cane,” resident Gary Candler said.

Candler lives near Spring Street and said he hears the racing and drifting about every other weekend.

“If I got my window down, the smoke from the tires come into my window. I know it’s dangerous for other people on the road, and it’s really loud,” Candler said.

Channel 2’s Audrey Washington spoke with The Varsity restaurant manager Terry Brookshire about what’s been happening. He said when police arrived to break up the activity last month, the drivers sped away and broke the safety bollards near the restaurant’s exit.

“One of these days, one of the cars is going to have a problem, and that car is going to go into that crowd,” Brookshire said.

“We’re going to hold them legally responsible for their actions,” Atlanta police Maj. Darin Schierbaum said.

Investigators say the group of drivers and onlookers mostly comes from Gwinnett County and organizes on social media.

Officers promised to search through social media and surveillance videos for more information.

Now, they hope someone will recognize the one suspect in the newly released video and turn him in before things get worse.

“Someone is going to be killed one day. Someone is going to get killed. I’m surprised they haven’t already,” Candler said.

Police told Washington they are also questioning some of the onlookers who recorded the drag racing.

In the meantime, police will continue to step up patrols in the area.

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