- Police in North Carolina are struggling to combat street takeovers.
- The problem persists both in urban and rural areas.
- In one instance, a car that fled the scene hit two patrol cars and injured an officer.
Street takeovers and sideshows are a scourge across the USA. Police in North Carolina are seeing the illegal events pop up just about everywhere. In a new development, they cracked down on takeovers both in urban and rural locations. They even managed to impound a bunch of trucks in the process.
Officers in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department responded to 10 different takeovers that happened over the weekend. Of them, officers managed to seize two cars, including one that was stolen. They also arrested two people for possession of stolen cars. A separate car that fled one of the scenes hit two patrol cars and injured an officer in the process. That officer is expected to make a full recovery.
More: Dodge Charger Driver Arrested After Wild Street Takeover Ends In Chaos And Injuries
Notably, police also issued five citations, including one for participating in a street takeover and four more for spectating at a street takeover. Video from one of the takeovers shows fireworks going off in Charlotte while cars do donuts in an intersection.
Heidi Thorne, a property manager in Charlotte, tells WCNC that “There’s a lot of new communities going up and I’m sure they’re not going to be thrilled about the noise that’s going on and the damage to the roads. What is the city doing to stop this? What are the police doing to crack down on this? It’s is it going to take somebody actually getting killed or you know, seriously injured for the police to respond.”
Moving out to more rural areas isn’t necessarily going to fix anything. A separate street takeover happened in Mooresville, roughly 30 minutes north of Charlotte. There, police broke up the event and then impounded at least six pickup trucks that were allegedly involved. That’s right, rather than pony cars and muscle cars, these participants showed up in trucks.
Among them were newer-model Chevrolet Silverados, a Dodge Ram, a Ford work truck with a utility bed, and a classic Chevrolet pickup. All six drivers ended up with charges related to street takeover activity, reckless driving, and damage to property. Should North Carolina be doing more to prevent these events? Tell us your thoughts down below!