Drag racers nabbed by Indiana State Police patrol, court docs say

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. ---Early Sunday morning, it was a case of “greased lightning” out on I-69. 

At no time of the day or night is it OK to endanger the public by racing your vehicle, but there they were. Two of the racers are now facing criminal misdemeanors for participating in a multi-car speed competition.

Randall Baker

The Indiana State Police took into custody Randall Baker, 51, of LaGrange and Nilson Orellana-Mendez, 31 of Fort Wayne, but there were others who got away. 

Baker was driving a 2016 black Chevrolet Camaro and Orellana-Mendez, a 2024 white Ford Mustang, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Trooper Casey Witzigreuter.

Nelson Orellana-Mendez

Troopers witnessed the speedsters around 12:40 a.m. shooting past the ramp at Illinois Road and I-69. Court documents don’t say what speeds the hot rod enthusiasts were clocking, but it was likely more than the posted speed limit of 70 mph, 65 in some urban areas.

Witzigreuter included details like hearing exhaust from the engines just after deceleration and watching as speeders took off “accelerating away from us in a race.”

Trooper Corbin Till provided similar details in his supplemental report. Around Illinois Road, he said he observed “a group of sports cars” going southbound on I-69. Till pulled on to the shoulder at the ramp and watched them roar past and then followed. 

But “to avoid them seeing us, we stopped under the bridge until they passed,” he wrote

He then got on to I-469 east behind the group and heard their exhaust and their acceleration at high rates of speed.

“The group of vehicles would slow down and get side by side in pairs, then accelerate and race at high speeds,” Till wrote. 

He saw Baker and Orellana-Mendez accelerate side by side and radioed to other troopers involved in the crackdown.

Till got behind the Camaro that Baker pulled over northbound near the 17mile marker. 

Trooper Witzigreuter gave dispatch the plate number and yelled at the driver (Baker) to ‘stay there’,” Till wrote.

Till then caught up to the Mustang that pulled over a mile up the road, court documents said.

Both drivers were detained and taken to Allen County Lock-up. Their vehicles were towed by Parkers Towing. 

On any given afternoon or night, but particularly on the weekend, you can hear engines revving and backfiring all over Fort Wayne - Lima Road, Coldwater Road, I-69, streets around Shoaff Park, and stretches in Allen County. 

These guys have the need for speed and they could really use a long stretch of highway to show off their noisy vehicular achievements. No amount of Matchbox collections is going to satisfy the need.

These two were specifically charged with misdemeanor competing in speed contest and misdemeanor reckless driving at unreasonable speed that endangers safety.

They have court hearings tomorrow.