Arlington's Road Rage Hotline Leads To Arrest Of Teen Driver
ARLINGTON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - A neighborhood's repeated complaints to the Arlington Police road rage hotline about a reckless driver resulted in the arrest of a teen on Wednesday.
"I wanted to report a black Ford Mustang…" a caller says in one of the recorded messages.
"There is a young kid that drives a black Mustang," said another.
A police employee listening to the messages noted three callers that month describing the same car and the same behavior.
"… driving recklessly and speeding," said one of the callers.
Arlington Police launched the hotline in 2017 after a road rage shooting killed 19-year-old Dylan Spaid.
Since then, it's received hundreds of calls.
In most cases, when officers receive a license plate, they send the car's owner a letter.
"If we got one or two, a letter would handle it. If we get three or four, it's time to go talk to someone in person," said Officer Jesse Minton.
Wednesday, officers were asked to keep an eye out for the black Mustang.
"Sure enough, while one of our officers was patrolling over there they spotted the vehicle," said Minton.
They arrested the 19-year-old driver after discovered he never should have been on the road.
"Had no driver's license, did not have any proof of insurance, and while the officer was there in their presence, they noticed marijuana," said Minton.
Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson tweeted about the situation on Wednesday, saying,"We received 3 complaints on our road rage hotline (817-459-5389) about this mustang. @ArlingtonPD Motor Officers located the car and after an investigation, the driver was arrested for Possession of Marijuana & cited for not having a driver's license and no insurance. Great job!"