Police in Oakland played whack-a-mole with several street takeovers on the night of Friday, April 12. And while the local news said “several” suspects were arrested, that’s not much considering how many people were participating in the illegal gatherings.
Man brutally attacked at Oakland street takeover.
Yet again, torching cars was a big feature of these street takeover gatherings, as shown by local station KTVU. This complete destruction of vehicles at takeovers seems to be on the rise. Sadly, it makes sense since many of the cars used in takeovers are stolen and so participants are eager to destroy the evidence.
We think it’s fair to say Oakland Police Department isn’t being given the necessary resources to deal with street takeovers and other crimes in the city.
Sideshow at 1:15 a.m. at 40th & Broadway in Oakland’s Temescal neighborhood broken up after 25 minutes, per witness. @oaklandpoliceca pic.twitter.com/rpzunMZr92
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) April 14, 2024
According to local reporter Henry K. Lee, who posted videos of the numerous street takeovers or sideshows on X, police dispersed them rapidly, some as quickly as ten minutes. But instead of stamping out the fire, they just spread it to other areas.
Sideshow at 1:50 a.m. at 7th & Castro under I-880 in Oakland broken up in 10 minutes. @oaklandpoliceca pic.twitter.com/BM2eEkM1p6
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) April 14, 2024
New takeovers at different intersections popped up almost as quickly as police broke them up. We’d be willing to bet a lot of the same people were at all of them, so breaking them up didn’t act as a deterrence from these kids to just go elsewhere and do it again.
Sideshow at 2:20 a.m. at Claremont & College in Oakland’s Rockridge dispersed shortly thereafter. @oaklandpoliceca pic.twitter.com/AGh5V6rnDE
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) April 14, 2024
In total, Lee accounted for five takeovers on the night of April 12, with the locations changing rapidly as police ended the fun at one location. These kids were obviously organized and ready to pop up their takeovers anywhere they pleased.
Sideshow at 2:40 a.m. at MacArthur & Excelsior in the Dimond District dispersed after 15 minutes. @oaklandpoliceca pic.twitter.com/8d5mySd9jR
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) April 14, 2024
Lee also uploaded footage showing some of the street takeover drivers escaping with their cars by driving on a sidewalk and into a parking lot, making their way past the roadblock.
Finally, a patrol Ford Explorer blocks the sidewalk, but not before several cars make their escape. Oakland police need to keep this tactic in mind for future operations and cut that kind of escape path off.
At sideshow at High & Foothill in East Oakland, @oaklandpoliceca move in. Some drivers are able to escape – by driving on sidewalk into @FremontTigers High parking lot, but blue Infiniti is blocked by cop cars & 2 are detained – incl. driver, wearing unique hoodie pic.twitter.com/sxwWBI1mal
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) April 14, 2024
Another video shared by Lee shows Oakland police blocking off a road with multiple patrol cars. This was apparently to keep the street participant’s vehicles contained. But an Infiniti rams its way through the blockade, later coming back and doing a U-turn in front of them seemingly to taunt police. And Oakland officers just watched him do it without giving chase – why aren’t criminals in the city scared of law enforcement?
Image via KTVU Fox 2 San Francisco/YouTube
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Driver of this Infiniti G35 rams @oaklandpoliceca cars at High & Bond in East Oakland after officers block in sideshow vehicles, takes off – and then returns, seemingly to taunt cops pic.twitter.com/I7Sqwa2Aw5
— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) April 15, 2024
[…] takeovers are a menace to society for a variety of reasons. Not only are they dangerous and shut down roads people pay to use freely, […]