South Cook News

Keith Pekau, the mayor of Orland Park and Republican candidate for Illinois' 6th Congressional district, highlighted a recent drag racing incident in Chicago that left three people dead and said that Chicago's problem with violence is ongoing because voters continue to elect people who push the same policies.

A drag racing caravan of more than 100 cars took over an intersection in the Brighton Park neighborhood on Chicago's Southwest side over the weekend, ABC reported. Cmdr. Don Jerome of the Chicago Police said they received complaints about the large caravan and were monitoring the situation via live video feed when they received an alert of at least 13 gunshots going off. Officers who responded to the scene found that 5 people had been shot. Three of the men were pronounced dead when they arrived at the hospital. Two of those men were 20 years old. The two other men who were shot were listed as in serious condition but expected to survive. Those men were 19 and 21 years old.

A new ordinance allows Chicago Police Officers to issue fines for street racing and to impound vehicles involved, but racing continues to be a problem, CBS News reported. Since July, CPD has impounded 26 vehicles and submitted requests for an additional 72 cars to be impounded. The department has also made 35 arrests related to drag racing. From January of this year through mid-August, CPD responded to 1,800 separate racing incidents.

NRCC Spokeswoman Courtney Parella said that Sean Casten supported the SAFE-T Act, which will make Illinois communities less safe, according to a release.

“Casten's soft-on-crime agenda is endangering Illinois families,” Parella said.

The release was issued after Columbus Day weekend, during which 30 people were shot in Chicago.

Pekau and Casten will face off in November's general election.