MINNEAPOLIS — Lake Bde Maka Ska neighbors say for two consecutive weekends, people have been speeding through the Lakeside Center parking lot at Excelsior Boulevard and West Bde Maka Ska Boulevard, drifting their cars late into the night.
Drifting is a flashy driving style involving sudden turning and breaking, which results in visible exhaust emissions and loud noise. As the drivers do donuts and burnouts, neighbors can hear the activity from their homes.
"The noise is obscene," said Anne, who preferred not to share her last name.
"My daughter has woken up in terror by the noise of these vehicles," fellow neighbor Marisabel Bautista said.
"My window, even when it's closed, it doesn't keep loud noises out," Bautista's daughter added.
In daylight, tire markings can be seen throughout the surfacing, which could be expensive to repair. But above all, there's concern for everyone's safety.
"They may exit out to Excelsior Boulevard in two groups, both heading in the same direction," Anne said. "What would happen to a driver who unwittingly was heading towards them?"
"There's a lot of pedestrians that walk that area," Bautista added.
"I heard of a woman in the neighborhood who was 70 or so years old, and this concerns some of the older neighbors," Anne continued. "She had to come in because she needed to protect her vehicle … and take her vehicle."
Knowing police are short staffed, multiple neighbors reached out to city officials for solutions. The Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board tells KARE 11 they're working with the property owners to install jersey barriers, which they said they also did last year when dealing with the same problem.
"We did notice a difference," Bautista said. "However, they seemed to just kind of migrate more to Hennepin and Lagoon. So it's not a permanent solution."
"That's part of the reason why I wanted to come here and just … put a face to the people that live in this neighborhood and say like, give, I think, these hotrodders an opportunity to maybe just make a decision on their own," Bautista continued. "I'm a woman of color. I've been a single mom for seven years. I worked really hard to get to where I am to put my daughter and I in a better and safe neighborhood and in a good school district and you're affecting us."
To address the issue, the Minneapolis Police Department says it's performing the following efforts:
- Provide extra, high visibility patrols
- Conducting periodic focused enforcement efforts
- MPD is working with the ownership of that private lot to suggest ways to improve public safety by mitigating and preventing this type of crime through landscape and design
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