"City of Battle Creek v 2024 Ford Mustang" may make it seem like the city is suing a sports car, but it's actually hoping to take the car away from a Springfield resident accused of driving dangerously.
The city announced the lawsuit on Friday, adding that it's the first time the city has filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit under an updated city ordinance.
City Attorney Bill Kim said the ordinance was updated last summer in response to complaints of street races, exhibition riding and other nuisance driving.
"That behavior toned down a lot. So we haven't had to actually invoke that yet and this circumstance seemed to justify it," Kim said.
Kim said the suspect was arrested after allegedly performing dangerous maneuvers in his Ford Mustang near a Meijer gas station on June 14th.
“Doing donuts and generating that much smoke and tracks 10, 15, 20 ft away from gas pumps is just significantly dangerous to the public. If he'd lost control he could have gone into the pumps there. That could have started all sorts of negative consequences.”
According to the lawsuit filed by Battle Creek in the Calhoun County 37th Circuit Court, the driver is also accused of having performed burnouts because he was "flooring the accelerator in order to cause smoke to emanate from the tires."
The lawsuit also alleges the defendant filmed the stunts for social media, claiming he told officers, "This is so cool! I'm locked up!" and added that a picture of the arrest would get him "at least 100 views."
Dashcam footage of the arrest was also been released by the city.
Bill Kim said he’s confident the city will prevail in the lawsuit, which seeks to take the car permanently, adding that he hopes it serves as an example to others.
“We want people to have a good time. We want people to enjoy the city. But we don't want the public to be endangered and that's what happened here."
He said it hasn’t yet been determined what will be done with the vehicle if it’s forfeited, but added that the city will likely auction it off.
