Street takeovers run rampant over weekend in multiple cities

Street takeovers were in abundance this past weekend in Seattle, Tukwila and other neighboring cities in Western Washington.

According to the Tukwila Police Department (TPD), a group of “street racers” took over an intersection near Southcenter Parkway and South 200th Street Saturday to do burnouts.

“Last night, officers were once again faced with a hostile car crowd that was setting off fireworks and shining lasers at our officers,” TPD stated on social media. “The crowd eventually dispersed.”

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A street takeover — also known as a sideshow — is an illegal demonstration of automotive stunts. They typically involve a person or group of people in a vehicle blocking traffic in an intersection or roadway to do donuts or race. Street takeovers generally draw the attention of large crowds, who film it for social media.

Tukwila police officers acknowledged their gratefulness for those involved in the recent street takeovers who posted themselves committing the illegal act on social media.

“We want to thank those who not only filmed themselves committing these acts, but also posted said video to social media for us,” TPD stated. “It makes the follow-up work for criminal charges and traffic citations much easier for us. Also thank you (for the same reason) to the individuals with the very distinctive cars (i.e. older black Mustang with red front bumper, silver Infinity with black front end etc.).”

The night before, on Friday, TPD had to respond to another street takeover. The group involved with Friday’s sideshow was allegedly aggressive with the responding officers, prompting Tukwila Police to request assistance from neighboring departments to help disperse the crowd.

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“For two nights in a row, we’ve had unwanted guests in the form of ‘street racers’ on the south end of the city shutting down an intersection and doing burnouts,” Tukwila Police wrote on social media. “The incident could be summed up as an unacceptable waste of time and resources for multiple jurisdictions to have to deal with. Thank you to our partner agencies who responded to assist.”

Seattle street takeovers

A group took over an intersection in Downtown Seattle early Sunday morning, making it three days in a row a street takeover occurred in the region.

Seattle Police Department (SPD) reported a group of approximately 50 people gathered at the intersection of Third Avenue and Clay Street to watch numerous cars doing donuts and other dangerous stunts. According to one witness, the crowd appeared much bigger.

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“There was at least 100 to 150 in the surrounding area, but there was only maybe 10 or 11 different cars participating,” Tim Brooks, a witness to the takeover, told KIRO 7.

The crowd even created barricades, using Lime scooters and traffic cones, to block police from interfering, according to SPD. The crowd continuously tried to bait the officers into a confrontation, according to KIRO 7, including throwing fireworks at officers and patrol cars. One man even jumped on the hood of a patrol car.

Due to the hostility of the crowd and the limited number of patrol officers, responding SPD officers were forced to pull back. No arrests have been announced after the Seattle incident, as of this reporting.

Contributing: KIRO 7

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.