Two cars involved in the fiery drag-racing takeover of a Queens neighborhood were found by police, but the suspects remained at large Tuesday, City Councilman Phil Wong announced.
The cars — a blue Infiniti and a purple Infiniti — were captured on video participating in the meetup, which involved roughly 100 cars drag racing, doing donuts and other stunts near a ring of fire set with accelerant at the intersection of Eliot Ave. and 69th St. in Middle Village early Saturday morning, cops said.
“These issues are serious. This is a public safety issue,” Wong said. “When you set a road on fire, when you close down a street, that’s criminal. And we’re gonna hold them accountable.”
New York City Councilman Phil Wong speaks during a press conference outside One Police Plaza Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams/ New York Daily News)
Wong said his office was inundated with calls from residents who were woken up by the disturbance, which attracted a large crowd of spectators drinking and blasting music.
When cops arrived to break up the scene around 1:40 a.m. most of the participants scattered. But three people jumped on the hood of a police car, breaking its windshield, before piling into a black Nissan with no license plates and zooming north on 69th St. They are wanted for criminal mischief.
All of the participants on Saturday were able to get away.
Earlier that night, the same group of people tried to hold a car meetup in another Queens neighborhood not too far away, but police shut it down, Wong said.
“(Police) were able to stop that one, but they didn’t get there in time to stop this one,” Wong said.
Police have released images from a massive “Fast & Furious”-style car meetup that caused havoc in Queens, and asked for help identifying the people involved, including a trio who jumped on the hood of a police car responding to the chaos, cracking its windshield. (NYPD)
Wong noted that illegal car meetups are a problem all over the city, largely involving the same people.
“We’re dealing with the same cars that are modified to outrun the police,” the councilman said. “We’re dealing with the same drivers, the same criminals. They meet up at different parts of the city and they’re thinking that they can get away with it.”
Meetups typically happen in industrial areas of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, Wong said. Participants find out about them through social media.
Wong said he supports hiring more police officers, so that more cops can respond quickly, catching the suspects before they’re able to get away in their souped-up vehicles.
In addition to the people who jumped on the cop car, police are looking for other drivers and passengers, including three people who posed for a photo wearing keffiyehs obscuring their faces, with only their eyes visible, who were in a silver BMW X3 with a Connecticut license plate, #BW98494, and three people in sweatsuits who were in a white BMW sedan with no plates.
A wild pattern of tire skid marks was left on the street at the intersection after the early-morning car takeover. Locals said the skid marks were new. (Julian Roberts-Grmela / New York Daily News)
All are wanted for reckless endangerment for driving with “depraved indifference to human life” and “fleeing the scene at a high rate of speed,” police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.