A 22-year-old El Paso man is facing a reckless driving charge after deputies said body camera footage caught him spinning donuts through a Far East shopping-center parking lot, leaving tire marks scattered across the pavement. Anthony Samaniego was arrested Tuesday and booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility on a $5,000 bond.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded near the 14800 block of Edgemere Boulevard, close to IDEA Edgemere, where they found tire marks throughout the lot, according to KVIA. Body-camera video shared by EPCSO showed Samaniego behind the wheel, carving circles into the parking lot, and he was later arrested.
Sheriff Oscar Ugarte addressed the arrest directly, saying private property is not a place for reckless driving, per the same report. Samaniego was charged with reckless driving and was booked on a $5,000 bond.
A Familiar Scene in Far East El Paso
This is not the first time EPCSO has responded to a parking-lot donut call in the same part of the city. The sheriff's office previously arrested 17-year-old Kaely Ochoa on a reckless driving charge after she allegedly lost control while attempting the stunt, hit a curb and flipped her car in a Far East El Paso lot, according to KFOX-TV.
The pattern extends well beyond El Paso. In Tyler, police ran a sting operation targeting parking-lot donut activity that netted three reckless driving arrests and two drug possession arrests, with numerous tickets handed out as well, KLTV reported. In St. Mary's County, Maryland, authorities asked the public for help identifying people responsible for a truck that tore up a business parking lot in Chaptico, with officials saying the donuts caused property damage, according to WJLA.
When Donuts Turn Dangerous
The stunt has also produced far worse outcomes elsewhere. In Colorado Springs, five passengers who were hanging out of the car windows were crushed when a driver tipped her car over while doing donuts in a shopping-center parking lot, leaving a mangled vehicle and five people with life-threatening injuries, per KBTX. And in San Antonio, a man was arrested on a reckless driving charge after he was found doing donuts in a parking lot with two children under age six riding in the car without car seats, according to FOX San Antonio.
Those cases underscore why EPCSO treats the stunts as more than a nuisance. Reckless driving of this kind can damage property and put nearby residents at risk, a concern echoed in Sheriff Ugarte's warning that private property is not the place for it. For now, Samaniego's case remains an open charge, with body-camera footage showing the donuts and tire marks visible in the lot.
