Los Angeles police covertly moved in at the scene of what became a massive street takeover in the predawn hours Saturday and made dozens of arrests, issued hundreds of citations, and seized 200 vehicles after officers surrounded more than 700 people in Harbor Gateway.<\/p>\n
The effort culminated at the intersection of South Figueroa Street and West Alondra Boulevard, where more than 150 officers enforced \u201cOperation Street Sweeper,\u201d Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell said at a news conference Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
At one point, part of the scene erupted into a \u201cdemolition derby,\u201d as drivers tried to evade arrest and banged into other cars, said Los Angeles City Councilman Tim McOsker, who represents the 15th District.<\/p>\n
Police arrested 66 people on suspicion of participating in or aiding a street race or takeover, McDonnell said. Three others were arrested on additional grounds \u2014 one on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, another on suspicion of battery and a third on suspicion of obstructing or interfering with officers.<\/p>\n
Officers also issued 570 citations, including 442 to people accused of being spectators at a speed contest or exhibition of speed, according to McDonnell, and 128 citations issued to juveniles for curfew violations.<\/p>\n
Some 200 vehicles were impounded and seven firearms were seized.<\/p>\n
The operation began around 2 a.m. after police used strategic planning, intelligence gathering and drone technology to predict the locations of four separate street takeovers, officials said. The enforcement effort ultimately came to a head at Figueroa and Alondra.<\/p>\n
Home security camera footage from nearby residences showed young people running through the neighborhood during the police response, with some jumping over fences and walls into residents\u2019 backyards.<\/p>\n
Police also recovered canisters of nitrous oxide, which authorities said can be inhaled to produce a high and can also be used in vehicles to provide a sudden boost in engine power.<\/p>\n
One vehicle caught fire during the operation, further endangering participants and officers, McDonnell said.<\/p>\n
McOsker said police had anticipated the possibility of a takeover in the area over the long holiday weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an area where, on many weekends, especially through the summer, there were street takeovers,\u201d McOsker said. \u201cAnd this being the first night of Labor Day weekend, LAPD was ready for the takeover that did occur here.\u201d<\/p>\n
McOsker said the surrounding neighborhood includes both single-family and multifamily housing and that residents have been \u201cterrorized\u201d by recurring street takeovers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s offensive to folks who are just trying to live their lives in their homes and follow the rules and raise their families and just get some sleep before work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Police officials warned Saturday that the operation would not be a one-time enforcement effort and said the department will continue gathering intelligence about planned street takeovers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is only the beginning,\u201d McDonnell said of the crackdown.<\/p>\n
The operation included assistance from the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department, California Highway Patrol and four Homeland Security Investigations officers. McDonnell said the HSI officers were assisting with the street takeover operation and watching for any assaults on officers, and were not there for immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n
McDonnell said some people involved in Los Angeles street takeovers have been as young as 11 years old. Generally, police have found stolen vehicles, rentals and cars belonging to drivers\u2019 parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not harmless fun. This is criminal behavior,\u201d he said, urging parents to know their childrens\u2019 whereabouts. \u201cOne single, reckless decision can wreck or take their life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles police covertly moved in at the scene of what became a massive street takeover in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455042,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[723,138,131,133,132,100,136],"class_list":["post-455041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-crime","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-news","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455041"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455041\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}