Street takeovers have become a public nuisance in California’s Bay Area and residents are over the dangerous activity, however no one seems to be doing anything to stop them from happening.
NBC’s Bay Area reported how residents of Oakland and San Fransisco are fed up with the street takeovers plaguing the area. The latest takeover happened on August 25 when hundreds of dirt bike and ATV riders took over the Lake Merritt area of Oakland.
“It went on and on and on, and there was no stop to it,” San Francisco resident Sharky Laguana said.
For more than 90 minutes, Laguana shot video of the group of about 100 bikers take over the intersection.
Before they arrived in the area the riders were seen doing stunts in traffic nearby, even blocking street cars. “They have to be held accountable. If they’re not held accountable, it’s just gonna keep happening, and it’s just gonna get worse,” Castro told NBC. The night prior, multiple large takeovers happened in nearby areas including Vallejo, Carquinez Bridge, Crockett, Richmond, and Oakland. One even had a ring of fire as drivers did donuts around it.
Local city officials and authorities are aware of the takeovers and even show up sometimes to disperse them, but nothing seems as if it’s being done to stop them from happening.
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman said city hall is well aware of the concerns raised by residents, but he said police chasing them may cause more harm than good.
According to the San Francisco Police Department, no arrests have been made but an investigation is ongoing.
In a statement, a police spokesman said the department is also beginning to deploy drones to help track people in incidents like these, but he did not say if any were used on Sunday.
Meanwhile, cities in Southern California have gotten tough on takeovers in an attempt to stop them. The city of Pico Rivera instituted a law that has anyone participating in a takeover get hit with a $2,000 fine and their car gets seized. Compton tried — and largely failed — to stop the takeovers with plastic reflector Botts’ Dots and the LAPD ran sting operations that resulted in arrests — often of people wanted for pretty serious crimes — and vehicle impounds. There are answers to fighting the surge in dangerous street takeovers, the Bay Area just needs to get it together.