A Miami street racer’s solution to police, according to cops: projectiles and fireworks
A Little Havana teenager faces criminal charges over chat room posts police say encouraged street racers to throw projectiles and fireworks at cops interrupting their illegal street life.
A Miami-Dade police arrest report says the mother of 18-year-old Bryam Javier Castillo-Talavera confirmed his phone number was the one connected to the Telegram account that made the posts. Castillo was arrested Friday while attending Green Springs High School, a charter school at 3555 NW Seventh St.
Castillo’s $15,000 bond was posted on two counts of written threats to kill or do bodily injury. He was released Saturday and is scheduled to be arraigned May 30. He also received two tickets for facilitating drag racing on a highway.
Castillo got arrested one year and two weeks after, online Miami-Dade court records say, his license was suspended for not showing up at a traffic court hearing concerning tickets for driving without a license and having no proof of insurance.
A social media post by Miami-Dade Police Director Freddy Ramirez indicated the arrest wasn’t completely about officers being threatened — a not uncommon occurrence in the online world — and was related to curbing the street racing that can infuriate residents.
“The Miami-Dade Police Department will not allow threats to be made against our officers or our community,” Ramirez said on Twitter. “We will continue to use all of the resources necessary to keep our streets safe.”
A Miami-Dade police arrest report says in Telegram’s “Hehenono” chat room, a chat room for coordinating street takeovers for street racing, an April 5 post by Castillo asked those coming to bring fireworks and rings of fire.
“The post stated do not attack cops unless they are getting out of their cars,” the report said. “In that case, use anything throwable!!”
The report says an April 8 Castillo post instructed, “Keep your distance from Feds. We can’t let no one get roped tn or even let this be a field day for homeland! If someone gets caught, try whatever to get em loose cause that’s why we for fireworks for! Let’s get active tn.”
(“Tn” means “tonight.”)
The next day, the report says, Castillo posted about street takeovers at Southwest 64th Street and 62nd Avenue in South Miami and Southwest 67th Avenue and Miller Road, a mile away in unincorporated Miami-Dade.
After his arrest by Miami-Dade police’s Homeland Security bureau, Castillo remained silent.