After a Saturday night car meet up drew hundreds of spectators to a local intersection, Takoma Park Police Deputy Chief Shibu Philipose warned that reckless driving is extremely dangerous for both the drivers and the spectators.
“There are very high horsepower vehicles being operated that at very high velocities within the intersection, and it is not a closed off racetrack, so in any mistake that they make, the vehicle can be projectiled into the crowd,” he said during a press conference.
Also, blocking an intersection may prevent ambulances and firetrucks responding to emergencies from getting through, he said.
“They’re blocking the road, and there’s a lot of people that are trying to travel through those intersections. If there’s an ambulance coming through, that could really mean the difference between life and death for the person who’s being transported,” Philipose said. “If the fire department is just trying to get to a house fire or a car accident, they’re not going to be able to get through.”
Around 11:15 p.m. on Saturday, police said they responded to the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue and Ethan Allen Avenue for a reckless driving meet up. Hundreds of people blocked the intersection to watch cars do donuts and burnouts and the situation escalated when police responded, according to police.
“If anyone one of those cars lost control, they could have easily killed 20 people,” said resident Sandra Filippi, 74, who lived near the intersection and attended the press conference.
When officers arrived, they observed a big crowd surrounding the intersection watching multiple vehicles performing “dangerous maneuvers,” including burnouts and donuts, police said.
The crowd quickly surrounded the police cars as they arrived, and people started to bang on the hoods and bumpers of the vehicles as they taunted officers, according to police.
Police said officers activated their lights and sirens to disperse the crowd, but that “only seemed to exacerbate the situation,” according to a press release.
Some members of the crowd wore ballistic plate carriers, which protect the chest and back from projectiles, which police said was “adding to the tension.” One person revealed they had a handgun and then ran away into the crowd, according to police.
Takoma Park police said they requested assistance from the Montgomery County and Prince George’s County police departments. When the other law enforcement agencies arrived, the reckless drivers and spectators dispersed on foot and in cars, many heading south on New Hampshire Avenue towards Washington, D.C., police said.
“These reckless meetups violate several of Maryland’s transportation laws and are illegal,” Takoma Park police said in the press release. “They are dangerous and jeopardize the safety and tranquility of our community. We are working with our allied partners in law enforcement to address this serious issue through education, enforcement, and changes to legislation.”
Philipose said at the press conference that the police department supports “two bills that are in Annapolis right now that enhance our ability to enforce these laws.”
Police did not provide any updates on suspects at the press conference and asked anyone with information about the incident to call the department at 301-270-1100.
Filippi, who lives a block and a half from the intersection where the incident occurred, said she is deeply concerned about what happened, saying that this is a “public safety issue.”
She also said that members of her community are complaining about the disruption because they can’t drive to where they need to go and the noise keeps them up at night.
“It was really, really loud. Probably three to four blocks away, people were waking up and going, ‘What was that?’” Filippi said.
Philipose said that such gatherings are not a new phenomenon and have “been an issue for the last several years.”
He said that the meetup was not an isolated incident. Similar incidents also occurred Saturday night in Prince George’s County, including one in Greenbelt.