LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville leaders kept a promise to street racers when they crushed a 2021 Hellcat Durango at the impound lot on Frankfort Avenue Wednesday morning.
The high-performance vehicle had an estimated street value of approximately $100,000. It was seized at the Street Rod Nationals last year after investigators learned it had been used in street racing. Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg pushed the button to destroy it during a news briefing.
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg pushed the button to destroy the vehicle at the impound lot.
The goal is to deter others from illegal street racing and street takeovers.
"We will seize your car, and if it's not legal for the streets, we will crush it," LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey said Wednesday.
The SUV's owner at the time of the seizure was not prosecuted because Humphrey said he was not aware that it was "pieced together from several different stolen cars" and had not been involved in any street racing.
Humphrey said the car's engine, frame and body were all from different vehicles.
"And so, for that reason, this car is not street legal and cannot be put back on the street," Humphrey said. "We did consider how to sell some of those parts, but because of the the nature of the way that car is assembled, that's not going to be a fiscally responsible avenue."
According to a written statement from LMPD spokesperson Sgt. Matt Sanders, LMPD has seized 35 cars so far in 2025 -- compared to 70 in 2024 and 62 in 2023.
Humphrey said crushing the Hellcat was a "symbolic" event to the people doing street racing.
"This is a message to people who want to go out here and participate in this dangerous behavior that we are not going to tolerate it on the streets of Louisville," Humphrey said.
When confiscated cars are not claimed, LMPD takes possession of them. In some cases they're scrapped, but others have been auctioned. So far, four street racing cars have been auctioned. None of the seized street racing cars have been repurposed for LMPD's fleet.
During Mayor Craig Greenberg's remarks he mentioned the deadly consequences of street racing. "The family of Myrtle Wacker will soon be mourning the one year anniversary of her tragic death when she was killed by illegal street racers on Oct. 25, a year ago. Street racing is reckless, it's dangerous, and it's completely unacceptable in Louisville, Kentucky."
Humphrey said this won't be the last time a car seized for street racing will be crushed.
"We're going to crush all of them that meet this, meet the criteria for us to be able to crush," he said. "And if something changes in the legislation that allows us to do it more, we'll do that. But in all honesty, you know, most of these cars are pretty nice. I would rather seize them and put them in our fleet or sell them to the public."
Mayor Greenberg said the city will continue to use every tool available to protect the community and make Louisville safer.
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