Alleged main organizer of occupation of Miami-Dade intersection arrested again – NBC 6 South Florida

A man who has allegedly been organizing street racing and intersection takeovers in South Florida since 2022 has been arrested again after Miami-Dade police said he and a woman organized additional takeovers last weekend.

Jose Alfredo Martinez Jr., 32, and Marlene Olivera Dasilva, 31, were each arrested early Saturday morning on two counts of aiding and abetting drag racing, Miami-Dade police said.

The arrests were made as part of a control operation to take over an intersection, during which four summonses were also issued, police said.

According to arrest reports, both Martinez, who posted a flyer for an intersection takeover on Instagram, and Dasilva, who runs one of the main Instagram accounts where the flyers are reposted and shared, used a Telegram chat to recruit users to participate in an intersection takeover.

They provided an address in Hialeah, from where officers responded in unmarked vehicles and found several cars blocking an intersection, reports said.

One of the police vehicles arrived and the other vehicles left, but a different address in Opa-locka was sent through the chat, reports said.

When officers rushed to the Opa-locka address, they found Dasilva’s car, stopped it, and took Dasilva and Martinez into custody.

Records show that Martinez was arrested in January on more than 20 counts of promoting drag racing, nine counts of inciting a riot and one count each of fleeing from police and reckless driving.

According to arrest reports, Martinez has been coordinating intersection takeovers in Miami-Dade and Broward since June 2022.

According to reports, hundreds of participants and spectators attended the events, blocking lanes while racing, drifting, doing donuts and other dangerous stunts.

According to authorities, the number of street takeovers and stunt incidents has increased in recent years and they pose an extreme danger to participants, spectators and other drivers.

There were numerous arrests of organizers and participants throughout South Florida.

A state law passed in 2022 makes it illegal to participate in street racing, which includes takeovers, drag racing, donuts, burnouts, wheelies, drifting and other similar activities that can lead to unsafe roads. In addition to jail time, drivers can have their license revoked and face fines of up to $5,000.