Eleven people were arrested and 51 cited over Labor Day weekend during a series of "sideshow takeovers" that were broken up by multiple law enforcement agencies around San Diego County, officials said Tuesday.
On Saturday, officers from San Diego, National City and the California Highway Patrol targeted the intersections of Recho Road and Carroll Road; Juniper Park Lane and Sorrento Valley Boulevard; Flanders Court and Flanders Drive; Via Del Norte and La Jolla Boulevard; Kearny Villa Road and Topaz Way, and Thorne Street and 43rd Street — all in San Diego — as well as the intersection of Kenwood Drive and Bancroft Street in Spring Valley.
"San Diego Police, CHP and National City PD became aware of some planned takeovers throughout the county and decided to take some action against that," SDPD Lt. Adam Sharki said on Tuesday.
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Eleven people were arrested on suspicion of reckless driving, driving under the influence, excessive speeding, speeding contests and watching illegal events and other crimes, authorities said.
In addition, seven vehicles were impounded and the drivers were cited for reckless driving, while seven people were cited for "aiding and abetting in a sideshow." Police said the vehicles would be impounded for 30 days.
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"Damage caused by vehicles involved in these activities often requires repairs at each intersection, with an average cost of $2,500 to $18,000," police said in a news release issued Tuesday.
Officers also impounded 10 vehicles for hazards and equipment issues, and detained and cited four juveniles for being out after curfew.
The sideshows have been taking place up in LA and the Bay Area but were a relatively new phenomenon in San Diego until recently.
"One of the things that we think has actually been a catalyst for these events was COVID when people weren’t on the streets," Sharki said. "The streets were largely empty. People had a lot of free time on their hands. They started adopting a lot of these types of events down here in San Diego. We hadn’t really seen them in large scale before."
Preventing takeovers can be a game of cat-and-mouse, Sharki said.
"We’re aware they probably listen to police scanners and stuff like that," Sharki said. "They're monitoring us as much as we’re monitoring them, so when they find out that there's law enforcement coming, a lot of the times they’ll disperse and go somewhere else."
