On Monday at around 8:00 a.m. Gwinnett County Police, Dekalb County Police and Atlanta Police jointly executed a search warrant on Jhostin Alexander Bardales over his lead role in organizing an illegal drag racing group.
The warrant stemmed from an ongoing investigation by the APD Auto Crimes Unit following a 911 call from the Northside Drive and 17th Street intersection in Northwest Atlanta on Aug. 20.
Along with the APD, the Georgia State Patrol also responded to the original incident. A GSP Trooper reported a suspect in a black F-150 doing donuts at the intersection. The driver was arrested on site.
DCP was able to trace a social media account connected to the event and identified Bardales, a 20-year-old male of Buford, as the primary organizer.
Subsequent investigation by the APD identified nine other intersections where Bardales played a role in directing races on the same evening. Four of these locations were located in Gwinnett County, another four were in Dekalb County with an additional one occurring in Atlanta.
A joint investigation into Bardales followed and he was apprehended and booked into the Gwinnett County Jail on multiple counts of Promotion or Organization of Exhibition of Illegal Drag Racing. Other charges may be pending from multiple jurisdictions.
In a press release issued by the Gwinnett County Police on Nov. 21 they thanked the Dekalb County Police and the Atlanta Police Department for their help in what was described as “a great collaboration between all three jurisdictions”.
