Man arrested after losing control while racing another vehicle on West Waco Drive

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - A Waco man was arrested Monday when police say he crashed his Dodge Charger after losing control while racing another Charger on West Waco Drive, crashing into two other vehicles and causing a utility pole to catch fire.

Keare Riley, 21, who denied he was racing the other vehicle, was released from the McLennan County Jail after posting bond following his arrest on a Class B misdemeanor racing charge.

According to an arrest complaint, witnesses told Waco police officers that they saw Riley stopped at a red light near Richland Mall and a blue or purple Charger was in the right lane next to him.

Both Chargers were revving their engines at each other, the witnesses reported, and when the light turned green, the driver of the blue or purple Charger “signaled his hand to go and both Chargers took off at a high rate of speed,” the arrest affidavit alleges.

The blue Charger swerved from the right lane over to the left lane in front of Riley’s Charger, and Riley moved to the right lane as both vehicles accelerated, witnesses reported.

Riley drove into a turn lane to try to get around traffic and then lost control in the 4600 block of West Waco Drive. He crashed into a BMW, a moving van, a utility pole and then plunged into a drainage ditch, police reported. The utility pole caught fire, but the fire extinguished itself before other first responders arrived, the affidavit states.

Riley denied he was racing and said the other Charger kept traveling east on Waco Drive. He said he didn’t know who the other driver was and told police he was driving fast and was in a lane that ended. He said to keep from hitting another vehicle, he served onto the curb and then lost control, according to the arrest affidavit.

Police reported no injuries in the incident.

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