Multiple vehicles were towed, and several people were arrested over the weekend as the Sacramento Police Department said it responded to multiple sideshows throughout the city. Sideshows, also known as street takeovers, are when spectators block major intersections, freeways or parking lots as they watch drivers perform donuts and other reckless driving maneuvers. While these can be dangerous for drivers and spectators, bystanders who get caught in the sideshow may also get attacked simply for being there.From Saturday through the early morning hours of Sunday, police said that they made 67 traffic stops, towed seven vehicles and arrested 11 people while breaking up sideshows, according to a Tuesday news release.The locations where the sideshows were include:Center Parkway and Ehrhardt AvenueNorthgate Boulevard and West El Camino AvenueEl Centro Road and San Juan RoadFruitridge Road and MLK Jr. BoulevardMeadowview Road and 21st AvenueVideo shared by Sacramento police shows spectators blocking Northgate and West El Camino around 1:30 a.m. Sunday while a gray vehicle spun around. Minutes later, patrol vehicles arrive and chase after the driver.Sideshows are not an issue unique to Sacramento. California lawmakers have taken steps to harshen penalties for both drivers and spectators caught in these street takeovers. The laws, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law in 2024, expand law enforcement’s ability to impound vehicles and standardize the terms sideshow and street takeovers in state laws.Sacramento city officials that same year also passed an ordinance that added penalties for those driving, watching or planning these illegal events. This also gave police the ability to use all available technology, including the use of drones, security cameras, automatic license plate readers and speed-detecting radar.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

Multiple vehicles were towed, and several people were arrested over the weekend as the Sacramento Police Department said it responded to multiple sideshows throughout the city.

Sideshows, also known as street takeovers, are when spectators block major intersections, freeways or parking lots as they watch drivers perform donuts and other reckless driving maneuvers. While these can be dangerous for drivers and spectators, bystanders who get caught in the sideshow may also get attacked simply for being there.

From Saturday through the early morning hours of Sunday, police said that they made 67 traffic stops, towed seven vehicles and arrested 11 people while breaking up sideshows, according to a Tuesday news release.

The locations where the sideshows were include:

Center Parkway and Ehrhardt AvenueNorthgate Boulevard and West El Camino AvenueEl Centro Road and San Juan RoadFruitridge Road and MLK Jr. BoulevardMeadowview Road and 21st Avenue

Video shared by Sacramento police shows spectators blocking Northgate and West El Camino around 1:30 a.m. Sunday while a gray vehicle spun around. Minutes later, patrol vehicles arrive and chase after the driver.

Sideshows are not an issue unique to Sacramento. California lawmakers have taken steps to harshen penalties for both drivers and spectators caught in these street takeovers.

The laws, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law in 2024, expand law enforcement’s ability to impound vehicles and standardize the terms sideshow and street takeovers in state laws.

Sacramento city officials that same year also passed an ordinance that added penalties for those driving, watching or planning these illegal events. This also gave police the ability to use all available technology, including the use of drones, security cameras, automatic license plate readers and speed-detecting radar.

See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel