Street racers shut down Lowry Hill tunnel early Sunday morning

A group of vehicles racing and doing burnouts inside the westbound Lowry Hill tunnel shut down Interstate 94 early Sunday morning.

State Patrol Lt. Gordon Shank said the incident was reported to troopers around 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

"When troopers arrived, they were able to locate one of the suspected vehicles involved," Shank said in an e-mail. "The driver failed to stop for the troopers' lights and sirens and attempted to flee."

Shank said the troopers halted the pursuit in the interest of public safety.

No arrests had been made as of Sunday. Shank added that there were no crashes, and it's unclear how many vehicles were involved.

The State Patrol is working to identify the vehicles and drivers; Minnesota Department of Transportation traffic cameras recorded the incident.

In MnDOT videos shared on Twitter, a group of vehicles is shown shutting down traffic inside the tunnel, forcing semitrailer trucks and other vehicles to stop. The street racers lined up in the tunnel, parking vehicles along the perimeter with some drivers and passengers exiting vehicles and walking around. Some were recording the incident on video as drivers did burnouts and doughnuts inside the tunnel.

A long line of traffic formed outside the tunnel until the drivers raced from the scene.

It was the second major incident inside the tunnel in recent weeks. In the eastbound lanes on March 24, spilled drywall blocked two lanes after a semi rig and trailer crashed.

In October, dozens of drivers were cited and arrested as part of a street racing crackdown. That weekend, more than 100 vehicles were pulled over, with 29 citations issued and 22 arrests as part of a collective law enforcement effort throughout the Twin Cities.

At that time, Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said street racing had spiked over the summer. Police at one point had to use fire hydrants to flood downtown streets to deter racing.

Kim Hyatt • 612-673-4751