COUNTY TO SEIZE RACING CARS PROPOSAL MODELED AFTER L.A. CRACKDOWN.

Byline: Josh Kleinbaum Staff Writer

Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday approved a plan that will allow police to seize the vehicles of illegal street racers - a program modeled after a Los Angeles crackdown that has been in effect since 2003.

The plan is part of an effort to help law enforcement officials put the brakes on the dangerous 100 mph dashes down local streets and canyons outside the city. The supervisors directed county attorneys to draw up the ordinance within two months.

``We need to do something to control and deter street racing,'' county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. ``A vehicle is expensive, and a vehicle is essential in this town. I think this will be a significant deterrent. This is not a game.''

In the past two years, police attribute five fatal accidents to street racing in the San Fernando Valley, killing seven people. In October, two 17-year-old students at Village Christian School died in a racing accident in Sun Valley. An 18-year-old Van Nuys resident died in September on Victory Boulevard in Woodland Hills.

Racers in cars prefer the long, flat streets in the Valley, often gathering about 8 p.m., when shoppers and pedestrians are still on the streets, officials said. Motorcycle racers prefer the canyons, speeding along Mulholland Drive and Topanga Canyon Boulevard, using their rear tires to leave tread marks in the road, officials said.

But law enforcement officials are cracking down on street racing, and they believe they're making progress. Undercover officers have infiltrated the gatherings.

A car theft task force - which focuses on street racing because racers often use stolen parts to fix their cars and soup them up - has frequent stings. Police use marked cars, unmarked cars, motorcycles and helicopters.

As a result, officials say, organized street racing is on the decline.

``Just the last time we did (a sting), we saw a big difference between times previously to that,'' said Detective Lorenzo Barbosa of the car theft task force. ``We do believe that these guys are getting the message. We're not going to stop there.''

Police have arrested drivers, spectators and flag men, charging them with misdemeanors. In races that have led to fatal accidents, drivers have been charged with felony manslaughter.

Officials did not have arrest statistics because several different divisions handle street racing. Barbosa said his anti-theft task force has made about 20 racing-related arrests in the past month.

The ability to seize vehicles has been a deterrent to street racers, police officials said, although taking possession of the cars has proven difficult. Issues of title and ownership often arise, and each case takes about a year to weave its way through the courts before the city can destroy the vehicle, said Valley Traffic Detective Bill Bustos.

But officials believe the threat of losing a vehicle is enough to scare off would-be street racers - or at least get them to find another city for their races.

``We hit the street racers where it hurts most, taking their vehicles,'' said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who sponsored the ordinance in the city. ``It has all but stopped organized street racing in the San Fernando Valley.''

The LAPD's auto theft task force now has two cars in its possession, one which should be destroyed soon, Barbosa said.

The California Highway Patrol and the Sheriff's Department launched Operation Safe Canyons in the Santa Monica Mountains region, a program designed to reduce racing and other unsafe driving practices by increasing patrols in the area. Operation Safe Canyons made its first patrol through the canyons on Sunday.

``We don't want anybody getting hurt or dying out there,'' California Highway Patrol Officer Leland Tang said. ``That is a beautiful place to ride a motorcycle, and we encourage people to take advantage of that, but we want people to do it responsibly.''

Josh Kleinbaum, [phone]

josh.kleinbaum(at)dailynews.com