An illegal sideshow took over the streets of Antioch late Tuesday and at one point blocked a Contra Costa fire station from responding to a call, a fire official told NBC Bay Area.
A large crowd of people gathered in the area of Lone Tree Way and Blue Rock Drive, watching cars burn rubber and spin out in a dangerous and illegal sideshow.
A Contra Costa fire official told NBC Bay Area the event lasted for about an hour and 20 minutes until Antioch police responded and broke it up.
Participants also set off illegal fireworks during the sideshow, at one point igniting debris in the middle of the road.
Fire crews from nearby Station 82 responded to multiple calls during the night but had to find an alternate route to respond to one call because the sideshow was blocking their normal route.
"Lone Tree is one of the main thoroughfares within our jurisdiction, and Station 82 is directly up the street," Contra Costa fire's Deputy Chief Brian Helmick said. "They could not access Lone Tree and had to find alternative means to get to the fires … because of the sideshow."
Police estimate 200 to 300 people took over the intersection. Despite no immediate citations given, they say that doesn't mean officers won't catch them.
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Police Chief Steven Ford said the department had drones deployed that he hopes will catch the people responsible. Those caught could face $1,000 fines and eventually have their cars impounded.
"Sideshow activity is extremely dangerous," Ford said. "We see these young people hanging outside of cars. They're spinning in circles in this very close, tight circle of spectators. One wrong move and you have people completely wiped out and ran over."
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City leadership did send a strong warning to those responsible.
"They keep testing our patience in Antioch, but they will be found and they will be prosecuted," Mayor Lamar Thorpe said. "We're going to impound their cars and they are going to be cited and they are going to regret coming here."
Ford said his reduced force was tapped out covering two shootings overnight, slowing their response on a holiday. The city is short-staffed partly because more than 30 officers are on administrative leave in connection to an investigation into racist text messages sent by some officers.
"You had two or three officers trying to manage a crowd of several hundred people," Ford said. "It's never advisable for officers to go into a crowd of any sort truthfully until they have adequate resources to manage the scene."
