ACURA DRIVER HELD AFTER STREET RACE.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Just weeks after a local street race left an innocent man dead, Santa Clarita sheriff's deputies arrested a 25-year-old Palmdale man they said was racing near Soledad Canyon Road in Canyon Country.

Julio Gonzalez, 25, was arrested shortly after 9 p.m. after Deputy Mike Lorenzi said he saw him in a 1994 Acura Integra racing down city streets aside another speeding vehicle.

``These vehicles were side by side and (Lorenzi) estimated their speeds at 80-plus mph,'' officials said in a written press release. ``It appeared that the two vehicles were engaged in an illegal street race.''

Lorenzi spotted the racers near Sierra Highway and Soledad Canyon Road speeding side by side.

The deputy made a U-turn and tried to chase the two vehicles as they headed south on Sierra Highway, but traffic backed up.

``When the traffic light cycled to green, both vehicles rapidly accelerated, causing their tires to break traction,'' the release said. Lorenzi was able to stop one of the motorists, who was arrested after he yielded. The second vehicle, a dark-color Honda or Acura, fled and that driver remains at large.

Gonzalez was being held at the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff's station jail on suspicion of engaging in a speed contest.

Anyone who witnessed the street race or who has information on the other driver is asked to call Deputy Mark Slater, traffic investigator, at [phone].

It was two weeks ago that two Acura drivers were racing, with one losing control. Passer-by David Fresquez, 27, of Canyon Country was hit by the car and died as he drove home after picking up his wife from work.

The father of a 5-year-old boy was traveling along Soledad Canyon Road east of Deep Creek Drive in a 1985 Chevy Z28 when Joe Chaidez, 23, of Canyon Country, traveling in an opposite direction, crossed the center divider, flipped his 2001 Acura and landed on top of Fresquez's vehicle. Chaidez was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

Fresquez's wife, Karyn, was seriously injured and hospitalized following the collision.

The crash that killed Fresquez was one of three in one week along the winding roadway that serves as Santa Clarita's main east-west connector. Four people died: Fresquez, a great-grandfather, an off-duty Los Angeles police officer and a Canyon Country dog groomer.

The series of crashes has prompted city officials to study the roadway to determine whether any safety adjustments can be made and sheriff's officials have increased enforcement in the area.