OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Does it feel like cars are flying through your neighborhood lately? It's something law enforcement is seeing too, in fact they say it is unlike anything they have seen before.
- Two incidents involving speeds of 117 mph and 130+ mph on Friday night, led Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson to speak about growing concerns for reckless driving across the county.
- Sheriff Hanson says the department's Community Action Team is dedicated to concerns like this and encounters excessive speeding daily.
- Omaha Police is seeing it too and says they have had additional officers working because of this.
- Watch the video to see some of the speeds local law enforcement has seen lately.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"They shut down the road, they shut down the intersection at 72nd and McKinley, they started spinning cookies in the middle of the road,” said Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson.
It happened around 10:46 p.m. on Friday.
Sheriff Hanson says his department and Omaha Police heard about a street racing gathering at the intersection.
Law enforcement tried to stop the truck, but it took off hitting high speeds.
OPD’s Able-1 tracked it going over 130 mph at one point.
"Able-1 followed him over into Iowa, when he was ultimately arrested by Iowa authorities he was found in possession of a firearm, evidence of drugs and 4 teenagers in the truck," Hanson said.
That was the second incident that night. Another involved a 17-year-old going 117 mph near 204th and West Center.
Driving like this is one of the reasons the Sheriff’s office created the community action team in 2023.
"We deploy the community action team and our road patrol specifically to look for these speeders along areas that we know there is a history of that activity, West Center, West Dodge, West Maple," Hanson said.
Excessive speeding is not isolated, other departments are seeing it too sharing posts on social media.
OPD says they have had additional officers working because of this.
"You can lose your life like that, you can be sent to prison, you can end some other innocent person's life, it's not worth it," Hanson said.
Reckless driving is a top complaint that Hanson hears and he's calling on lawmakers for change.
"We need to pass these laws to give law enforcement more tools and create appropriate penalties for people that drive in such a reckless behavior," Hanson said.
If you have an excessive speeding complaint, Sheriff Hanson says to contact deputies with the Community Action Team.
