Nearly a dozen street sieges involving hundreds of vehicles and reckless drivers caused chaos in Philadelphia on one weekend night.
Police said officers responded to multiple locations between 9:30pm on Saturday and 4:33am on Sunday to deal with illegal street racing and vehicle meet-ups. WTXF-TV reported.
“We have your picture. We're coming to get you. If you think you ran away last night, you didn't, OK? If you hear any banging on your door, that's us. We're on our way with a search warrant and an arrest warrant.”
Blaze News has extensively covered Street Takeovers, where participants gather at predetermined intersections, block the intersection and perform dangerous stunts, such as spinning endless doughnuts in a circle, while a large crowd watches and records them on video.
Philadelphia has been dealing with this issue for a while.
You can watch the video report here WTXF said this weekend's incidents involved “dangerous behavior” including drifting, setting off fireworks, setting trash on fire and vandalizing police vehicles. Here are some descriptions of some of them:
- About 50 vehicles were involved on Bustleton Street at about 9:30 p.m., and police issued nine tickets under the nuisance vehicle ordinance and 15 bystander tickets, police said. One of the drivers attempted to evade arrest by driving directly at officers, resulting in a collision with a civilian vehicle, WTXF reported, adding that the driver has been identified and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
- According to the Sheriff's Office, at 11:47 p.m., police responded to the intersection of 20th Street and Pattison Avenue with reports of more than 100 vehicles skidding and reckless driving, and two people were arrested after fleeing from police and crashing into a utility pole.
- He suffered minor injuries when a fleeing vehicle struck his vehicle while officers were responding to a call for help on Fox Street at 3:30 a.m., according to WTXF.
- According to the station, more than 200 vehicles were drag racing and drifting on Island and Bertram streets as of 4 a.m. Additionally, officers were assaulted and a police vehicle was damaged, but the crowd dispersed once additional police units arrived, WTFX reported.
- At 4:33 a.m., reports of more than 100 cars drifting and setting trash on fire were received at 15th and Market Streets, police said, adding that participants assaulted officers and damaged multiple police vehicles, leaving shattered windshields and flat tires.
“You have officers in cars, and they're jumping on windshields, causing physical damage,” Deputy Chief Mike Crum told reporters, according to WTXF. “They're not concerned about your safety, they're not concerned about their safety. If you've seen the video of what they're doing, they really don't care. It's just a question of, 'How much chaos can we cause?'”
Crum explained how difficult it is to catch the perpetrators: “It's like whack-a-mole. That's the best way to describe it. You shoot them in one place, but they just move on to another place. They're obviously not following any of the traffic rules. They don't care.”
Police say they are doing all they can to combat the street occupation, and WTXF reported that police have sent a message to perpetrators: “Don't ever think for a second that you get away with it or that you won't be held accountable. There are cameras everywhere and a significant amount of evidence to review. PPD will use that evidence to make arrests if probable cause exists.”
Deputy Commissioner Francis Healy added, the station reported, “We have your photo, we are coming to get you. If you think you ran off last night, you didn't, OK? So if you hear any knocking on your door, that's us. We're on our way with a search warrant and an arrest warrant.”
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