Maryland man arrested, accused of organizing massive car rally in Philadelphia
Maryland man accused of organizing massive car rally in Philly
Early this morning, a Maryland man was arrested for allegedly organizing and promoting an illegal car rally in Philadelphia after this year?s Super Bowl. The arrest is part of a broader effort to crack down on reckless, unsanctioned car rallies that put public safety at risk. FOX 5's Julie Donaldson reports.
LAUREL, Md. - A Maryland man was arrested Thursday morning, accused of organizing and promoting an illegal car rally in Philadelphia after this year’s Super Bowl.
The arrest is part of a broader effort to crack down on reckless, unsanctioned car rallies that put public safety at risk.
What we know:
Yariel M. Fuentes-Reyes, 19, was taken into custody around 4 a.m. on July 3 at the suspect’s apartment complex in Maryland.
The arrest was the result of a coordinated investigation between the Maryland Car Rally Task Force and the Philadelphia Police Department. The joint investigation dates back to early February.
Task force members, along with Maryland State Police and Philadelphia police, conducted a raid after obtaining a search warrant for the home of Fuentes-Reyes. During the search, they found a semi-automatic handgun without a serial number.
Fuentes-Reyes is charged with possession of a firearm by a minor and possession of a firearm without a serial number. He's also facing numerous felony and misdemeanor charges related to the rally.
The backstory:
Video obtained by FOX 29 shows the car rally Fuente-Reyes is charged with allegedly organizing and promoting.
It shows a large number of cars gathering on the streets of Philadelphia during Super Bowl celebrations with multiple cars burning out, doing donuts before dispersing as soon as police arrived.
Police say these rallies are not only dangerous but cost thousands of dollars in damage.
Dig deeper:
As part of the search, police confiscated Fuente-Reyes' XBox, which they believe he used to communicate with other drivers about gathering at the rally.
"These promotions are what fuel these people from coming from two, three hours away as far as New York as far as D.C. to come do these events and are doing them in multiple states and cities for their YouTube and pages and things like that so obviously we even cracking down on it and this is part of that," said Dennis Rosenbaum with the Philadelphia Police Department.
FOX 5 did try to speak with a person at the home, but she declined to comment. Fuentes-Reyes is being held at the Anne Arundel County Detention Center while he awaits extradition to Pennsylvania.