As Street Takeover Season Ramps Up, Police Enlist Help From The Public
LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles Police Department Officers were at the scene, watching and waiting in a familiar game of cat and mouse when a stolen 2022 Dodge Charger entertained throngs at yet another street takeover in Los Angeles recently.
It wasn’t hard to find them, according to Detective Juan Campos. As they usually do, bystanders and participants live-streamed the illegal street takeover at the intersection of Vernon Avenue and Figueroa Street.
“This culture — they like to show it out in the open on social media,” said Campus.
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In video footage from that night on April 30, the orange Charger and another dark car spin around each other doing burnouts and donuts. Police released the footage Tuesday in hopes that someone will recognize the driver and passengers. In the video, they can clearly be seen hanging out the window and gesturing to the crowd.
They come within inches of bystanders, who seem oblivious to the danger as they stand in the street to cheer the drivers on.
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“They place themselves in danger,” he said. “They don’t think of the long-term effects that happen in their family.”
Campos said he understands the adrenaline rush, the youthful need to impress without thought of the consequences, but he’s seen too many times how it can end in tragedy. Last year, a mother of two was killed by a car that spun out of control, recalled Campos.
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The Spring and summer months are when street takeovers pick up in Los Angeles, and Campos encouraged parents to keep track of their teens. In addition to the fatal crashes, there have been fights and shootings, and spectators can get arrested along with the drivers.
It’s rare that officers have the resources to break up the street takeovers that happen up and down Figueroa Street.
“If you’ve seen a takeover on video, there could be hundreds of people there,” Campos said. “You need a lot of resources to affect arrests.”
It can be a challenge mustering those kind of resources for spontaneous street takeovers. Instead, the officers watch, wait and pick off participants after the activity stops, he said.
That’s what happened on the night of April 30th. Officers went after the Dodge Charger, but it got away. They took down its license number, but it came back registered to an Infiniti, said Campos.
On Friday, officers found the car parked near Vernon and McKinley Avenues. They tracked its owner to Downey and discovered the car had been stolen on April 23.
The car’s owner still had all his keys in his possession and had no idea how the thieves got it, according to Campos. He didn’t recognize the drivers from the takeover footage.
Investigators describe the driver as a man about 18-25 years old, with black hair and a mustache.
So far he got away but not scot-free. Officers were able to get a pretty good shot of his face as he did burnouts, said Campos.
It may yet be enough to land him in cuffs
Anyone with information about the driver or passengers is urged to call Campos at 213-833-3713 or email him at [email protected].
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