BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Police say two men put crowds of bystanders in danger as they engaged in illegal drag racing and tried to outrun authorities over the weekend.
Baton Rouge Police (BRPD) identified the two as 24-year-old Jason Cager of Baton Rouge and 18-year-old Troy Perret of Hammond.
Jason Cager’s arrest
On Saturday night, shortly before midnight, police say they spotted Cager behind the wheel of an orange Chevrolet Camaro performing donuts in the middle of the intersection at North Airway Drive and Tom Drive.
An arrest document says that as Cager performed his stunts he was surrounded by a crowd of onlooking pedestrians who were standing in the roadway and blocking traffic while they watched him. Police described the scene as dangerous, saying, “At any moment in time Jason could have lost control and struck one of the bystanders.”
Authorities say they tried to pull Cager over, but he and other drag racing vehicles in the area took off at high speeds in an attempt to both elude police and race each other.
BRPD says its Aviation Unit (Air 1) followed the speeders, watching as the drag racers disregarded numerous traffic laws.
The arrest document goes on to say Cager “ran the red light at N airway Dr. and Cortana Place before turning eastbound onto Cortana Place and recklessly driving through the Walmart parking lot located at 9350 Cortana Place.”
Police describe Cager’s driving as indicating that he had, “zero regard for human life.”
Authorities say Cager was able to dodge their police vehicles, but not Air 1; the Aviation Unit kept him in sight as he stopped at a red light on Perkins Road and Siegen Lane.
With the help of Air 1, police say they were able to apprehend Cager at this intersection and search his vehicle.
The arrest document adds that police found Cager’s license plate in the back seat of his vehicle, and police say this is something drag racers typically do in hopes of thwarting police.
Cager was arrested on aggravated obstruction of a highway of commerce, flight from an officer, obstruction of justice, reckless operation of a vehicle, and drag racing on a public road.
Troy Perret’s arrest
Hours after the incident involving Cager, it was shortly after midnight on Sunday when police say they spotted Troy Perret behind the wheel of a Blue Ford Mustang, with a passenger in tow as he performed burnouts in the middle of South Choctaw Drive.
Police say a crowd of bystanders was watching Perret and other drag racers as they engaged in various competitions to outrace each other and try to outpace each other in performing burnouts.
Police say Perret was, “so reckless that it may have seriously injured several pedestrians if he were to lose control of the vehicle” and that Perret’s actions “endangered the life of himself and his passenger.”
Perret was pulled over and arrested on charges of aggravated obstruction of a highway of commerce, drag racing on a public road, license plate required, and not having a driver’s license on his person while driving.
Both Cager and Perret were booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison with bonds set at $55,000 each.
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