An illegal “street takeover” in Santa Ana, California, brought out hundreds of participants over the weekend.
A dozen cars were stolen and destroyed in other incidents in the Los Angeles area. Multiple young people were shot in separate recent street takeovers in Cleveland, Ohio. One former detective believes that soft-on-crime policies and social media are to blame.
“Street takeovers are when … large groups kind of descend upon a street to either race or burn out or do tricks in the street, effectively making it impossible for anybody who wants to use the street,” Lolita Harper, executive director of the Sheriff’s Employees’ Benefit Association, told Fox News.
A huge group of “hundreds” of people turned up to a Santa Ana intersection to watch cars do donuts around a large fire in the middle of the street, FOX 11 Los Angeles reported. While police were called to the scene, it is unclear if anyone was arrested for the dangerous disturbance.
“A dozen” of the cars that participated in “at least three” more street takeovers in the San Fernando Valley on Saturday night were stolen, wrecked, and burned, NBC 4 Los Angeles reported.
Over in Anaheim, the home of Disneyland, a 7-Eleven clerk was assaulted by a mob participating in a street takeover outside, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Another chaotic takeover in front of a Los Angeles Whole Foods in August resulted in people getting hit by cars as they attempted tricks:
Such incidents are popular on the west coast, but are becoming increasingly common in other parts of the country.
“They’ve become … more and more dangerous in terms of the damage that they’re causing, the crowds that they’re attracting and the essentially taking over of entire communities and or intersections, even resulting in … property damage, cars being lit on fire, windows [sic], smashes,” Harper said.
In Cleveland, a 17-year-old girl was shot at a “car meet” on August 10 and a 21-year-old was killed at a street takeover in July, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.
At least one other person was injured in another criminal street takeover in Suffolk, New York, over the weekend:
According to Harper, who used to work as a detective with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office, “Technology has now made it so much easier to spread this negative message … and at the same time, attract a larger crowd, which then again makes it increase in popularity and increase in danger.”
The law enforcement veteran also cited California’s lenient laws as factors behind the uptick in such events.
“I think California has led the way for decriminalization of a lot of things,” she told Fox News. “We have taken such a focus away from what they’re trying to call nonviolent crimes with essentially zero penalties for things that are classified as nonviolent, that they are just growing and growing because people know that they’re … not going to get in trouble.”
“The size of the crowds … it’s hard to pinpoint who exactly is doing it. Once you have an actual presence in the area, people disperse very quickly,” Harper continued. “Large crowds mean you need a large enforcement presence that’s taking away resources from other parts of the city.”
Harper added that allowing these street takeovers to happen diminishes the “quality of life” in those communities.
“The potential for loss of life is incredible,” she said. “You’re taking away safety. You’re taking away a sense of community. … That’s another tragedy, although it can’t be quantified with a loss of life. You’re taking away quality of life from these communities.”
