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Alleged street racer accused of killing innocent driver
A man, who the Harris County Sheriff Office calls an illegal street racer, is in jail charged with killing an innocent 36-year-old driver.
HARRIS COUNTY - A man who the Harris County Sheriff says was illegal street racing is in jail charged with killing an innocent driver.
Investigators say 30-year-old Jarrod Mikel was racing on Cutten Road, going 100 miles an hour when he slammed into a pick-up truck, killing 36-year-old Fidel Juarez.
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The gas station surveillance video that captured the crash is heartbreaking, particularly knowing that's how Juarez spent his last moments alive.
"When you have a truly innocent individual get killed through no fault of his own it adds an extra layer of tragedy to it,” says Sean Teare the Harris County District Attorney's Office Vehicular Crimes Chief.
Teare says two men driving Dodge Chargers were street racing on Cutten Road near Belgold when Mikel smashed his Charger into Juarez's Ford pick up, knocking the truck through a brick pillar and pinning it against the building.
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"We believe the defendant we have charged was traveling at probably around 100 miles an hour on a 40 mile an hour road,” says Teare.
Mikel is charged with Felony Racing Resulting in Death. He had never been in trouble with the law before. "So you go from no criminal history in 30 years to facing 20 years in prison. There are no winners in this one,” adds Teare.
"We see many people that are getting hurt and just our enforcement efforts aren't enough. So we've got to ramp up education,” explains Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez who says there seems to be an uptick in illegal street racing since more people are quarantined due to the pandemic.
"I think people want to get out and gather, especially young people. Many times they think they're invincible and it seems to attract obviously the younger crowd,” says Sheriff Gonzalez.
Mikel, his passenger, and his younger sister were treated at the hospital for minor injuries, minor physical injuries.
"This young woman is going to have to be a witness against her own brother as we attempt to put this man in prison. So the selfishness of his actions have victimized not only the family of the man killed in the truck but his own family,” says Teare.
Investigators say the man who was racing who did not crash could also face charges. They say they have him on surveillance video and are asking him to turn himself in. His vehicle is described as a 2016 black Dodge Charger with a transformer bumblebee sticker on the back.