With the help of a bit of pre-planning, Antioch police and the California Highway Patrol were able to break up an illegal sideshow on Friday.
Antioch police shared that hundreds of people were involved with the sideshow, but officers were still able to impound some cars and issue citations.
The Antioch Police Department shared in posts on social media that on Friday night, they teamed up with the California Highway Patrol’s Golden Gate division for a “DUI and sideshow suppression detail,” funded by the California Office of Traffic Safety.
“Our planning paid off,” APD wrote in their post. “We located two intersections where more than 200 vehicles and roughly 300 spectators were gathering to start a sideshow.”
The department said that the crowd overtook the intersection at Hillcrest Avenue and East 18th Street, blocking traffic and access for emergency vehicles.
“Together, we stopped the activity before it escalated further,” APD said.
“The goal in this was numbers, having a lot of uniformed personnel ready to respond,” CHP Sgt. Andrew Barclay said. Barclay explained that the effort was also aided by the CHP helicopter flying overhead.
Antioch resident David Sawyer said he was in the nearby shopping center when the sideshow began.
“A whole lot of cars showed up, started just doing their sideshow, rippin’ it, flippin’ it, doing doughnuts, and then, cops tried to break it up,” Sawyer recalled, ” then they started shutting down the streets and stuff because people kept getting into wrecks.”
He also said that officers blocked off the surrounding streets and kept people from exiting the nearby parking lots for several hours afterwards.
“I think they did the best they could,” he said of the law enforcement response.
“I know that a lot of kids, their parents are gonna wake up in the morning and wonder where the hell their cars are at,” Sawyer said.
All in all, Antioch Police said law enforcement impounded 22 vehicles for 30 days, found four stolen vehicles, issued more than 30 citations, made several felony arrests, and made a DUI arrest.
Sgt. Barclay explained that communities around the Bay Area have been telling CHP the ways recent sideshows have negatively impacted them.
“Shutting down sideshows really matters to us, because it matters to our communities we serve, ” Barclay said. He added that CHP will continue to work on more operations like this.
One business owner in Antioch, near where Friday’s sideshow happened, said he was encouraged to hear CHP and police had put more resources into addressing the sideshow.
This business owner, who didn’t want to be identified out of concern for his safety, said last year there was another sideshow at the same intersection, and during that incident, people entered his store and stole thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise.
“This year, I’m glad that they were able to get a hold of it, before things got worse; they were able to put it to a stop,” the business owner said.
The business owner also said he wants to see city and regional leaders doing more to address sideshows.
“They [should] take this seriously, provide the needed support to the community,” he said.
Source: NBC Bay Area
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