A large crowd of onlookers gathered in Takoma Park, Maryland, Saturday night to watch reckless drivers turn doughnuts in an intersection, Takoma Park police said.
The illegal reckless driving exhibition took place at New Hampshire and Ethan Allen avenues.
When Takoma Park police got to the scene, there was a large crowd of spectators watching cars do doughnuts and burn-outs. They had the intersection blocked, and the first officers there were outnumbered.
"There’s about 200 cars, could be as many as 400 cars," an officer could be heard saying on the radio.
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"They’re surrounding our cruiser now," another said.
People in the crowd also taunted responding police, banging on officers’ cars, police said. One person showed a handgun in his waistband, before disappearing into the crowd. Authorities also said some of the spectators were wearing ballistic vests.
The crowd dispersed when other area police departments, including from Prince George's and Montgomery counties, responded to Takoma Park police’s call for help.
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“The activity of taking over intersections and doing doughnuts is reckless and illegal,” Takoma Park Deputy Chief Shibu Philipose said. “It violates several of Maryland’s current traffic laws and endangers the lives of the participants, spectators and innocent people. It impacts the safety of our entire community.”
Police have not made any arrests but said they are working to bring charges against those involved.
Authorities said there were no reports of damages or injuries. Their primary goal was safety and opening the intersections, which if blocked, could cause delays in emergency response.
Philipose said that same evening, there were reports of other such meet-ups in Greenbelt City and other parts of Prince George's County.
"If you’re a person who’s not particularly participating in it, as a spectator, know that you’re putting yourself in danger and you’re adding to the problem," the deputy chief said.
There are two bills moving through the Maryland legislature that would address street racing and exhibition driving, as well as the noise created by the meet-ups.
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