(Buford, Ga., Nov. 21, 2023) – A multi-jurisdictional effort by Gwinnett County Police, Atlanta Police, and Dekalb County Police leads to the arrest of a suspect wanted for organizing illegal drag racing.

On November 20, at approximately 8:00 a.m., officers assigned to the Gwinnett County North Precinct Community Response Team, along with the assistance of the Dekalb County Intelligence Unit and the Atlanta Police Department Auto Crimes Unit, executed a search warrant on a criminal street racing group organizer. The search warrant was executed based on an ongoing investigation by the Atlanta Police Department about an incident that occurred back on August 20, when Atlanta Police and Georgia State Patrol responded to a 911 call at the intersection of Northside Drive and 17^th St in Northwest Atlanta.

At that incident, the Georgia State Trooper observed a black F-150 doing donuts in the intersection and immediately stopped the driver and placed him under arrest. Dekalb County Police was able to identify the social media account that was directing the event.  Atlanta Police was able to identify the organizer of the event as Jhostin Alexander Bardales (age 20, Buford).

During the investigation by Atlanta Police, they identified nine different intersections that the criminal street racing group was directing racers to that night. Four locations in Gwinnett County, four areas in Dekalb County, and one in Atlanta. The three jurisdictions then began working together to investigate the incident.

Jhostin Alexander Bardales was arrested and booked into the Gwinnett County Jail on multiple counts of Promotion or Organization of Exhibition of Illegal Drag Racing. Other charges from other jurisdictions may be forthcoming.

This was a great collaboration between all three jurisdictions, and we want to thank Dekalb County Police and the Atlanta Police Department for their help.

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