A Jacksonville man was among the several drivers arrested for participating in an illegal street race outside Charlotte, N.C.
A now-viral video shows a North Carolina state trooper racing to the scene by driving against traffic at a high-rate of speed.
The trooper, T.J. Williamson, resigned after the video was shown on WSOC-TV in Charlotte.
The trooper was trying to intercept street racers driving high-end BMWs along Highway 321 in Newton, N.C. Five of those cars were seized after they were determined to be racing.
Troopers charged the following individuals:
Brennan T. Rowe, 22, of Wayne, N.J., charged with impeding traffic & exceeding posted speed limit
Anthony W. O'Brien, 20, of Havre de Grace, Maryland, charged with impeding traffic & prearranged racing
Hoang T. Nguyen, 44, of Allen, Texas, charged with impeding traffic & prearranged racing
Tran Hai Phi, 26, of Jacksonville, Fla., charged with impeding traffic & prearranged racing
Haroon Masood, 27, of Philadelphia, Pa., charged with impeding traffic & prearranged racing
Tamer Arslanouk, 24, of Waynesville, N.J. charged with impeding traffic
Saad Ahmed Gil, 25, of Philadelphia, Pa., charged with impeding traffic & prearranged racing.
State troopers said they received numerous calls of the drivers endangering others along the four-lane highway, but motorist Carisa Lynn believes the state trooper put more people at risk.
"Street racing isn't what you should be doing, but it was more reckless in my opinion of the police officer to be driving the way he was driving, in general, to pull over some people racing,” Lynn said.
The cars that were racing were each worth over $80,000.
Two of the cars that participated in the race reportedly escaped.
Cox Media Group
