LAPD Will Impound Every Car at Street Takeovers—Including Spectators’
“Cars are going to start disappearing real soon,” said LAPD detective Ryan Moreno.
Street takeovers—where crowds of hundreds of spectators block off streets and intersections, so cars can race or do donuts—are becoming a bigger and bigger problem in California. So much so that the LAPD will begin to impound all cars involved, including spectators' cars, for up to 30 days.
“We really want to stop this from becoming a new trend where they think that they show up and take over a street or a freeway or any part of the city, that they’re just going to be able to do whatever they want.” said LAPD detective Ryan Moreno to reporters on Thursday, according to Fox LA11. “Cars are going to start disappearing real soon.”
According to Moreno, the LAPD currently impounds between five to ten cars per weekend already. However, that number is about to increase drastically when spectators' cars begin to get impounded.
It isn't just the street racing, though. More violent crime can escalate from such street takeovers. Two takeovers took place earlier in the week, in South L.A., and each one led to more violent crimes. One of which ended in the fatal shooting of a teenage boy. The other involved a 7-Eleven getting robbed and the store employee getting assaulted. "Some [street takeovers] are crossing over into more of gang-type attitude." Moreno said.
This LAPD crackdown comes after a bill was introduced back in January, that would not only provide California police with more funding to specifically tackle illegal street racing but also increase penalties for those involved. In 2019, the San Jose city counsel unanimously passed a bill that would allow police to arrest anyone standing within 200 feet of a street race.
The new decision to impound even spectators' cars come in addition to some of the countermeasures the LAPD has already implemented, such as adding Botts' Dots (the circular raised pavement bumps) to commonly used intersections. The Botts' Dots are supposed to discourage drifting and racing.
Additional cars, outside the ones racing, doing donuts, or drifting, can be used to block off streets and highways for these takeovers. Those cars are now at risk of being impounded as well.
