How city leaders in SoCal are stopping dangerous street takeovers before they start

Street takeovers have been hard to stop, but city leaders in one Southern California city says they’ve figured out a way to make it too difficult for cars to perform donuts on their streets.

Street takeovers have been hard to stop, but city leaders in one Southern California city says they’ve figured out a way to make it too difficult for cars to perform donuts on their streets.

Street takeovers have been hard to stop, but city leaders in one Southern California city says they’ve figured out a way to make it too difficult for cars to perform donuts on their streets.

Street takeovers have been hard to stop, but city leaders in one Southern California city says they’ve figured out a way to make it too difficult for cars to perform donuts on their streets.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Street takeovers are a problem.

In addition to the smoke and noise, the events have been the scene of murders along with arson, human trafficking and narcotics activity.

In spite of ongoing efforts to end the practice, since April 2023, there have been over 1,000 takeover events across Los Angeles County.

“We want to make sure we stop these issues, because people are dying,” said L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Terrence Bell.

Starting in 2022, Botts’ dots were installed at intersections in the city of Compton where takeovers were commonplace, but residents have called their effectiveness into question.

READ MORE | Compton installs city’s first set of Botts’ Dots in hopes of deterring street takeovers

The city of Compton installed its first set of so-called Botts’ Dots as part of an effort to deter street racing and takeovers.

“It’s a waste of taxpayer’s money,” said Compton resident Christopher Bailey. “I feel that the Botts’ dots, they don’t stop anything.”

The sheriff’s department has seen some success with the use of administrative citations.

A $2,000 fine is given to anyone involved in a street takeover. By using the citations, the burden on the judicial system is reduced because when charged with a crime, it simply bogs down the courts with misdemeanor prosecutions.

The cities working with the sheriff’s department collect the fines, again, reducing the burden on the county.

For Compton, a total of $279,000 in fines were issued since April 2023.

Also at the state level, new laws have expanded vehicle impoundment authority. In L.A. County, there were 450 vehicles towed in the same period.

“We know that individuals, number one, don’t want to lose their car and they don’t want to be hit by their pocketbook, so it’s been very effective with administrative citations,” said Bell.

But those are actions taken after the event, and in many cases, the vehicles involved are stolen.

So what’s left?

Residents near an intersection in Port Hueneme have lived with dangerous driving and street takeovers for years.

“It’s frightening. People stand on the corner and all I could think of was, ‘What if a car loses control?’ It was very, very dangerous,” said resident Anne DePaolo.

When education and punishment don’t work, sometimes you just have to harden the target.

You make the intersection too difficult to takeover.

“We didn’t want to make it difficult to use the street, we just wanted to make it hard to do donuts, and I think we’ve found that solution here,” said Port Hueneme City Manager James Vega.

The rubber medians populating the intersection are far beyond the Botts’ dots. They are sturdy, easy to install and officials say they’re fairly inexpensive.

As part of a six-month test project, they have also had an immediate impact.

“It works. It definitely works. They can’t do it, it’s great!” said DePaolo.

“It helps even outside of the zone where the test project is because it’s made it less desirable to come here and try it,” added Vega. “The city still cites people who look for other areas to do donuts, but it’s clear this works and will likely be used elsewhere.”

“We’re always going to be using all of our tools, but for us in this area, it was a frequent occurrence, and it was one that we knew we needed to figure out how to try to stop it from happening in the first place.”

For DePaolo, the answer is clear.

“It just stops the spinning because of the way those humps are placed, so I would think it could apply in many situations in other cities as well.”

Police are looking for suspects who attacked a store clerk and robbed this 7-Eleven store in Anaheim on Sunday.

During a street takeover in Anaheim early Sunday morning, authorities say a mob violently forced its way into a nearby 7-Eleven, ransacked it and assaulted the store clerk.

At 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, Anaheim police officers responded to calls of an illegal street takeover at the intersection of Orange and Knott avenues.

As officers were heading to the scene, they received an additional call of a robbery at the 7-Eleven convenience store at the same intersection, said Sgt. Matt Sutter, a police spokesperson.

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“There was a delay in response because all the street racers were blocking the intersection and nearby streets,” Sutter said.

By the time officers reached the store, the suspects had fled.

An unknown number of people were inside the store for about two minutes, ransacked it and assaulted the store clerk, leaving him with a bloody nose, according to the Police Department.

In a video of the assault posted on Instagram, two masked men can be seen trying to forcibly pull open the 7-Eleven doors while yelling, “Watch out,” to the clerk, who is holding onto the doors and trying to keep them closed.

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When the men succeed in pulling the doors open, they strike the clerk in the abdomen and scuffle with him before retreating briefly.

As group then pushes into the store, the clerk tries to defend himself with what appears to be a metal rod, but he is repeatedly struck as others in the group steal merchandise, knock over displays and jump onto the cashier counter, the video shows.

At one point the clerk can be seen on the ground, yelling and holding his chest as people from the crowd are recording with their phones and laughing.

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The looters stole the store’s cash register and the total loss from the robbery is unknown, according to police.

Anyone with information about the assault is asked to call Orange County Crime Stoppers at (855) 847-6227.

Sutter said the street takeover and robbery were the first such incident he was aware of in the city of Anaheim, although similar episodes have been on the rise in other parts of Southern California.

“This is getting our full attention because this may occur in other counties, but it’s new to Orange County and we’re going to stop this before it gets started,” Sutter said.

A 7-Eleven was ransacked and a worker was assaulted after a large group of people stormed inside the store in Anaheim.

Authorities received simultaneous calls Sunday morning about a street takeover and a robbery in progress at the 7-Eleven on 550 South Knott Avenue.

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When officers arrived, the cars had dispersed as well as the large group of people inside the 7-Eleven.

A group of about 40 people rushed inside, stealing merchandise and cash from the register, according to the store owner. It’s unclear how much merchandise and money was taken.

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While the robbery was in progress, multiple people assaulted the 7-Eleven clerk as he attempted to stop the thieves. The employee suffered a bloody nose from the assault.

Anaheim police are using video posted on social media in their investigation of the robbery and assault. No arrests have been made.

The city has had illegal street takeovers in the past but robberies like this are unusual, according to Anaheim PD Seargent Matt Stutter.

Anyone with information on the robbery is asked to reach out to the Anaheim Police Department. Those who wish to remain anonymous can contact Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855-TIP-OCCS

Cars on fire, dealership damaged during overnight street takeovers across Los Angeles

Cars were on fire and a dealership was broken into at the scene of two chaotic street takeovers in the Los Angeles area overnight, authorities said.

Cars were on fire and a dealership was broken into at the scene of two chaotic street takeovers in the Los Angeles area overnight, authorities said.

Cars were on fire and a dealership was broken into at the scene of two chaotic street takeovers in the Los Angeles area overnight, authorities said.

Cars were on fire and a dealership was broken into at the scene of two chaotic street takeovers in the Los Angeles area overnight, authorities said.

LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Cars were on fire and a dealership was broken into at the scene of two chaotic street takeovers in the Los Angeles area overnight, authorities said.

The first takeover happened around 12:08 a.m. Tuesday at Florence and Normandie avenues in the South L.A. area, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police confirmed that a car was set on fire. Video from the scene shows the car engulfed in flames in the middle of the intersection as a crowd of spectators watched from the sidewalk.

No arrests were made and no injuries were reported in that incident.

The second takeover happened around 3:30 a.m. at Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa Street in the University Park area.

The LAPD says that fireworks appeared to be involved in the takeover. Video from the scene shows people running away as a loud boom sounds off in the distance.

The footage also shows another car on fire, but police couldn’t say if it was set on fire on purpose or if it was accidental.

Authorities confirmed that somebody broke the windows of a nearby car dealership. Officers walked through the dealership but it did not appear that anything was stolen, and no cars were damaged inside.

Nobody was arrested.