PHILADELPHIA, PA - Over the course of two days, Philadelphia police responded to 11 illegal car meetups across the city where large crowds and hundreds of vehicles took over intersections to do donuts and set off fireworks in the street.
According to CBS News, authorities with the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) said that those meetups happened throughout the night from around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 21st, until 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, September 22nd, in neighborhoods across the city, including Northeast Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, Center City, and Spring Garden.
During a press conference update on Sunday, police provided more details about several of the incidents they are currently investigating. Deputy Commissioner Francis Healy said, "This behavior will not be tolerated. We firmly believe that the actions last night were in retaliation of the police department's aggressive actions that we've been taking since Mayor Parker's administration began."
He warned those watching and listening that anyone involved in the car meetups, police already have their picture. He said, "If you think you got away last night, you didn't. So, when you hear that banging on the door, it will be us. We're coming with search warrants and we're coming with arrest warrants." PPD said it will use the "considerable amount of evidence" collected from the incidents, including cameras, to make the arrests.
The chaos began around 9:30 p.m. when police said that about 50 cars were involved in a meetup on the 7400 block of Bustleton Avenue, where officers issued nine nuisance car citations and 15 citations to people watching them in the street. Police said that one driver tried to flee from the scene by driving directly at officers, "colliding with a civilian vehicle in the process." Police said that person has been identified and an arrest warrant is pending.
Shortly before midnight, about 100 cars were "drifting and engaging in reckless driving" at 20th and Pattison Avenue near FDR Park. Police said two people, one of which was a juvenile, were arrested after they tried to flee from police, but crashed into a pole. Around the same time, a video posted showed cars driving in the middle of the road as fireworks exploded in the street at Delaware Avenue and Spring Garden Street.
No injuries were reported and the police were able to eventually disperse that crowd. The fire marshal was called to that location to start an investigation due to the fireworks. Then around 1:30 a.m., about 100 cars took over 25th and Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia. PPD Captain Andrew DiSanto said that at the same time cars were doing donuts and shooting off fireworks at that location. Witnesses also reportedly told police that a man in the area fired a gun twice.
DiSanto said that no people or vehicles were hit by the gunshots, but that officers did recover one live round and one shell casing in the area. An airsoft rifle was so found in a nearby garage. DiSanto added, "Police were able to disperse the vehicles with no further incident."
About an hour and a half later, another large crowd took over 23rd and Pennsylvania Avenue, near Eakins Oval and the Philadelphia Art Museum. Drivers were also doing donuts here and setting off fireworks. Several police cars in the area were damaged. At 4:00 a.m., police said more than 200 cars were drifting and drag racing at Island and Bartram avenues, where officers were reportedly attacked and a police car was damaged.
Around 4:30 a.m., more police vehicles were damaged and officers were attacked just outside of City Hall. At that location, more than 100 cars were reported drifting and setting rubbish fires. Video showed people and cars blocking traffic in Center City as one car did donuts around a group of people standing in an intersection.
Several police vehicles were damaged at this location as well and a medic responded to City Hall after a woman's foot was reportedly run over by a car. Police said those police vehicles had broken windshields and flat tires. PPD said that they assigned "dozens of officers" to address the illegal meetups over the weekend, but noted that "unfortunately, law enforcement cannot prevent all of them, and even when we have the information, safely stopping the events in their tracks is not immediately feasible due to risks to officer and citizen safety."
According to CBS News, authorities with the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) said that those meetups happened throughout the night from around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 21st, until 4:30 a.m. on Sunday, September 22nd, in neighborhoods across the city, including Northeast Philadelphia, South Philadelphia, Center City, and Spring Garden.
During a press conference update on Sunday, police provided more details about several of the incidents they are currently investigating. Deputy Commissioner Francis Healy said, "This behavior will not be tolerated. We firmly believe that the actions last night were in retaliation of the police department's aggressive actions that we've been taking since Mayor Parker's administration began."
He warned those watching and listening that anyone involved in the car meetups, police already have their picture. He said, "If you think you got away last night, you didn't. So, when you hear that banging on the door, it will be us. We're coming with search warrants and we're coming with arrest warrants." PPD said it will use the "considerable amount of evidence" collected from the incidents, including cameras, to make the arrests.
The chaos began around 9:30 p.m. when police said that about 50 cars were involved in a meetup on the 7400 block of Bustleton Avenue, where officers issued nine nuisance car citations and 15 citations to people watching them in the street. Police said that one driver tried to flee from the scene by driving directly at officers, "colliding with a civilian vehicle in the process." Police said that person has been identified and an arrest warrant is pending.
Shortly before midnight, about 100 cars were "drifting and engaging in reckless driving" at 20th and Pattison Avenue near FDR Park. Police said two people, one of which was a juvenile, were arrested after they tried to flee from police, but crashed into a pole. Around the same time, a video posted showed cars driving in the middle of the road as fireworks exploded in the street at Delaware Avenue and Spring Garden Street.
No injuries were reported and the police were able to eventually disperse that crowd. The fire marshal was called to that location to start an investigation due to the fireworks. Then around 1:30 a.m., about 100 cars took over 25th and Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia. PPD Captain Andrew DiSanto said that at the same time cars were doing donuts and shooting off fireworks at that location. Witnesses also reportedly told police that a man in the area fired a gun twice.
DiSanto said that no people or vehicles were hit by the gunshots, but that officers did recover one live round and one shell casing in the area. An airsoft rifle was so found in a nearby garage. DiSanto added, "Police were able to disperse the vehicles with no further incident."
About an hour and a half later, another large crowd took over 23rd and Pennsylvania Avenue, near Eakins Oval and the Philadelphia Art Museum. Drivers were also doing donuts here and setting off fireworks. Several police cars in the area were damaged. At 4:00 a.m., police said more than 200 cars were drifting and drag racing at Island and Bartram avenues, where officers were reportedly attacked and a police car was damaged.
Around 4:30 a.m., more police vehicles were damaged and officers were attacked just outside of City Hall. At that location, more than 100 cars were reported drifting and setting rubbish fires. Video showed people and cars blocking traffic in Center City as one car did donuts around a group of people standing in an intersection.
Several police vehicles were damaged at this location as well and a medic responded to City Hall after a woman's foot was reportedly run over by a car. Police said those police vehicles had broken windshields and flat tires. PPD said that they assigned "dozens of officers" to address the illegal meetups over the weekend, but noted that "unfortunately, law enforcement cannot prevent all of them, and even when we have the information, safely stopping the events in their tracks is not immediately feasible due to risks to officer and citizen safety."
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