Following the arrest of an 18-year-old suspected of organizing street races and intersection takeovers around metro Atlanta, three more men were arrested on street racing charges in DeKalb County on Sunday.
Mahmood Edwards, of Stone Mountain, was taken into custody Wednesday and charged with three counts of promoting drag racing and two counts of obstructing streets, online jail records show. The charges stem from several separate intersection takeovers last month at different locations, DeKalb police said in a social media announcement Friday.
Just a few days later, DeKalb police continued their street racing crackdown by arresting three men who were laying drag in the parking lot of North DeKalb Mall, the department announced on social media. Ezekial Gladmon, 26, Eduardo Martinez, 18, and Brandon Smith, 35, were arrested Sunday after police say they were seen driving recklessly in the parking lot around 9 p.m.
“After spotting the suspects driving recklessly, officers were able to devise a plan and strategically take them into custody without incident,” DeKalb police said on social media. Each man has been charged with laying drag and reckless stunt driving, and their cars were impounded.
Labor Day weekend was a dangerous one for drivers, with at least 16 people killed on Georgia’s roads, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. At least four of the dead were teenagers, according to the Georgia State Patrol.
Edwards, the alleged street racing organizer, has been arrested at least three times in 2021 by metro Atlanta police departments, online records show. He is known in the street racing community for his ATLMoonRiders Instagram account, police said.
According to DeKalb police, Edwards’ most recent arrest is related to intersection takeovers at five locations on two separate dates, Aug. 5 and Aug. 15.
Edwards was previously arrested in Fulton County on June 1 and charged with driving in a circular or zig-zag course, also known as laying drag. Online records show that Edwards was booked into the Fulton County Jail before being transferred to the DeKalb Jail on June 5, where he faced one count of felony marijuana possession and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Months earlier, Edwards was arrested in Fulton on April 11 and charged with loitering or prowling, online records show.
Following each of his prior arrests, Edwards was released on bond after a few days in jail. As of Friday, he remained in the DeKalb Jail awaiting his bond hearing. Edwards has five open court cases between Fulton and DeKalb, online records show.
Edwards was labeled one of the “top street racing organizers” in the metro area by the Atlanta Police Department when it touted the arrest of Adolfo Robledo, the man thought to be behind the ATLTuners Instagram account. He is facing similar charges.
The charges against Edwards and Robledo were made possible by a new street racing law signed by Gov. Brian Kemp. Before the law went into effect, it was difficult to pin specific, serious charges on those suspects caught street racing, police said.
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