SAN ANTONIO – Swinging baseball bats, small explosives and countless moving violations were all problems New Braunfels police say they had to deal with this past weekend.
A group of street racers, believed to be from San Antonio, shut down parts of an Interstate Highway 35 access road, doing donuts and blocking traffic.
In a video posted to Youtube, you can see some of the activity on Walnut and Interstate Highway north access road.
Police say the event kept officers busy until 2 a.m. Sunday.
”A car club from San Antonio had over 100 vehicles that were blocking several intersections, mostly along Walnut Avenue,” said David Ferguson, spokesperson for the New Braunfels Police Department.
Ferguson said reckless driving, speeding and blocking intersections and highways are just a few of the many traffic violations that the group committed.
“Some participants also set off some very loud mortar style fireworks. They were shining laser pointers at responding officers,” Ferguson told KSAT. “They threw items or swung bats at officer vehicles and at least in one instance, sprayed pepper spray at an officer.”
Ferguson said the racers’ activity led to about 100 calls to 911. Police were eventually able to disperse the crowds, make two arrests and impounded two vehicles.
Noel Bonilla, 19, was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, and 18-year-old Michael Ernest Castro was charged with obstructing a highway passageway.
Both suspects posted bond and have since been released.
Ferguson said he has a message to the community after the event.
“New Braunfels residents need to rest assured that their police department has plans in place to handle these types of incidents and any similar future incidents,” Ferguson said.
Additional arrests are still pending.