Dangerous sideshows in the Bay Area have now caught the attention of local leaders. Ian Cull reports.
Dangerous sideshows in the Bay Area have now caught the attention of local leaders.
In a recent sideshow in Santa Clara, hundreds of people at an intersection with a car doing donuts when someone starts shooting.
The shots were fired deep into the sideshow in Santa Clara Saturday and continued as cars did donuts through the intersection and the crowd shut down the street. Eventually, police caught up to one car and made five arrests including someone with a gun.
Now, public officials are fed up.
Santa Clara Mayor Lisa Gillmor, who is running for re-election, said it’s time to start a Bay Area-wide task force.
“The one here Saturday night with several hundred people, we can’t have just a handful of officers handle that. We need help from regional agencies,” she said.
The mayors of Fremont and Milpitas said they're onboard and suggest they combine resources and even set up an agreement to have officers respond outside their jurisdiction to help shut the street stunt shows down.
That's important since most police departments said it's hard to make arrests at the event because there are often hundreds of spectators and participants.
They argue it’s the same group showing up all over the Bay.
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“Working with other cities, we can see some of the issues we’re following. Also I think that technology is very important. For our city, much like some other ones, we have license plate readers on some of our on-ramps and off-ramps,” said Fremont Mayor Lily Mei, who is also running for state office.
Fremont recently joined a growing list of communities in outlawing the promotion of or spectating at a sideshow.
A new state law signed last year also allows judges to suspend a driver’s license for up to six months for participating.
The three mayors are requesting to meet with others cities leaders to create a new plan for stopping what everyone agrees is a growing problem.
“This message is for all the young people out there. It’s a trap. Don’t come out to these sideshows, you’re going to get hit by a vehicle. All you have to do is go on Instagram and you’ll see it,” said Milpitas Mayor Rich Tran.
