- Officers in Indianapolis say that street racers attacked them at multiple events in the last few days.
- Authorities arrested some individuals but dozens escaped without consequence.
- Police hope that locals will assist them with the investigation to bring others to justice.
Police have to deal with all manner of situations every day. One thing they likely don’t plan on is getting attacked by a mob though. That’s evidently what happened on back-to-back nights when officers responded to street racing and street takeover events. Now, authorities are hoping that the public can help them catch several of the offenders.
Indianapolis Metro Police say that they accidentally happened upon an event during a traffic stop just after 2 a.m. on September 15. During the stop, they noticed a group of “100-200 vehicles engaged in reckless driving” within an intersection. Before backup could arrive, several of those at the event crowded the police car and began to throw road signs and cones at it.
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Then, about two hours later, another officer found a group of 30-40 vehicles blocking another intersection. Again, attendees threw things at the car including rocks and bottles. IMPD says that “eventually, the crowd dispersed.” Based on its own reporting, the department only arrested one person across both of these events.
Then, the very next night, they responded to another event around 3 a.m. and this time they found more than 50 vehicles blocking the intersection. Bystanders hit the police car with baseball bats, and doused it with lighter fluid, but thankfully fell short of lighting it on fire. Notably, one officer focused in on one attacker and followed him into a car before chasing him down to arrest him.
“The actions we saw this weekend against IMPD officers and Indiana State Troopers is unacceptable. Our officers responded to calls regarding street takeovers and spinning and in doing so, they were met with violence and their vehicles were attacked. Let me be clear – we will not tolerate any behavior that puts officer safety or the safety of our community at risk. We will continue to investigate these incidents thoroughly and hold those responsible accountable for their actions,” said Chief Chris Bailey.
Now, the IMPD is hoping that bystanders around any of the events will reach out with whatever details they might have about the situation.
