Image via ABC7/YouTube
Street takeovers are dumb and dangerous, with the latest example being a Dodge Charger mowing down a crowd, literally. Footage of the incident shows the Mopar muscle car drive straight into a crowd of people at the illegal gathering, knocking several over and driving on top of those victims.
Guy Fieri’s car collection is rather impressive.
The takeover, which took place in Anaheim, California over the weekend, looked like so many others. Hundreds of people helped shut down a large intersection, setting off fireworks while cars did burnouts, donuts, and drifts.
Then a group gathered in the middle of the intersection, a common practice at takeovers. Some do this for the thrill of getting close to the vehicles and others for better photos and videos. But it often ends poorly.
After the Charger driver lost control, plowing through the crowd, footage shared by ABC7 shows a mob of spectators surround the muscle car. They start kicking the vehicle, yelling at the driver in a scene we’ve observed play out repeatedly at these illegal events.
By the time police showed up, they only found two young men laying in the road with serious injuries. What happened to the other victims isn’t known since attendees of takeovers often don’t want to speak with cops about anything ever.
One resident in the area who spoke with ABC7 about the incident said takeovers have become frequent and make people feel unsafe. That person complained that when the police show up, takeover participants just scatter. Then a new takeover pops up elsewhere, so there’s really no change.
Police emphasize the difficulty in anticipating the events. It doesn’t help that unlike in some states, law enforcement in California is limited in what it can do about the street takeover problem. Laws in other states allow police to press serious charges against takeover participants and spectators, although the effectiveness of these laws hasn’t been proven yet since they’re new.
Still, at this point it seems like anything that could discourage or stop street takeovers might be worth it.
Image via ABC7/YouTube
