Only weeks after officials pledged new tactics to cut down on takeovers, the mob is back at it again
- Chicago-based street takeovers continue to garner many participants.
- Authorities say that they’re working on new tactics but have shown little to support those claims.
- Other cities have found various successful methods of holding responsible parties accountable.
Sideshows and street takeovers are a serious problem in Chicago and a new video suggests that they aren’t stopping anytime soon. Despite authoritative claims of new tactical developments with the aim of reducing these events, the participants appear unphased. This new video shows violence, multiple moving violations, disrespect of police officers, and even a physical fight between bystanders.
Sideshows are a big problem across the nation but the disregard for authority in Chicago is noteworthy. A video posted on March 26 shows several minutes of various takeovers. At one point a Camaro driver does donuts and a bit of drifting directly in front of a Chicago Police SUV. The officer begins to pursue the Chevrolet but bystanders, including the one filming the interaction, physically step between the two cars to prevent the officer from continuing the stop.
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It’s uncertain what happened in that particular case but it’s clear as day that participants appear unfazed by law enforcement. In early March, a crowd blocked traffic with another takeover that police had to break up. As a result of that event, the Alderman, Daniel La Spara, said that he was working with police on new tactics to keep things “orderly.”
Whatever those tactics are, they certainly didn’t stop the crowd seen in the video below. Several cars do donuts and burnouts while a crowd gathers around with fireworks, laser lights, and phones taking in the action. At one point, a passenger in a drifting car holds a handgun out of the window. In another scene, a bystander narrowly misses getting hit by a drifting car.
The sideshow/street takeover problem has been a blight on Chicago for quite a while. Back in October of 2023, Carscoops reported on a sideshow mob that attacked a Tesla that was trying to leave the scene. Long before that, in August of 2022, a violent takeover that saw the crowd damage at least one police car led to new city ordinances. Specifically, they allowed police to impound vehicles involved in the takeovers.
It appears as though the first time that police used that power wasn’t until August 2023 and even then they only impounded a single car. Now, more than half a year later, these takeovers are still a major issue. Other cities have begun to use drones to film the participants and then impound the cars after the fact.
In other places, several departments have coordinated to swoop in after an event begins to impound dozens of cars in a single night. Perhaps Chicago is going to have to go one of those routes to finally put an end to these ridiculous, and very dangerous, events.