PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office's latest effort to track and locate car clubs engaging in intersection takeovers and aggressive drivers resulted in four more arrests, the agency announced Wednesday.
On Sept. 30, the PBSO Traffic Division hosted an Operation Hot Wheels event. Deputies said Ricky Walden and Zavonte Hammond were found drifting and doing burnouts in the 1700 block of Meathe Drive. Both Walden and Hammond were arrested and taken to Palm Beach County Jail.
On Sept. 27, the traffic division hosted another operation. Deputies said two men, later identified as Sebastien Beadoin and Jordan Sparler, were doing burnouts at the Lake Worth Plaza. PBSO arrested them on Oct. 3 and took them to Palm Beach County Jail.
This ongoing operation has yielded numerous arrests and citations over the past six months.
In July, three people were arrested and 71 were cited after a group of car club members took over a plaza at Forest Hill Boulevard and Military Trail, an intersection at Community Boulevard and Military Trail, an intersection at Silver Beach Road and U.S. 1, as well as a roadblock on Interstate 95 at 45th Street.
In May, five people were arrested and 80 were cited with seven vehicles towed and 28 traffic stops after multiple intersection takeovers by street car clubs in West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and Palm Beach County. PBSO teamed up with West Palm Beach police and Florida Highway Patrol. Locations included a plaza on Cleary Road, the intersection of Woolbright Road and Lawrence Road, and Forest Hill Boulevard and Georgia Avenue in West Palm Beach.
In April, seven people were arrested, including four minors during an intersection takeover of street car clubs at the Jupiter Farms and Indiantown Road intersection. In all there were 45 citations, including 18 spectators cited and seven vehicles towed.
Florida enacted a law back in 2022 that prohibits street racing activities, including drag racing, street takeovers, stunt driving, drifting, wheelies, burnouts and donuts.
Walden, Hammond, Beadoin and Sparler face various charges, including damage to property, criminal mischief, driving with a suspended license and racing a motor vehicle.