Despite the police’s best efforts, street takeover culture has yet to disappear from America. If you don’t know, a street takeover is basically an illegal event where people block roads to perform car stunts in the street. Whenever this happens, police are usually called to deal with it. However, things got quite heated and dangerous during a confrontation between Montgomery County cops and a crowd of rowdy people in Maryland.
The street takeover incident began in Prince George’s County and then headed toward the Silver Spring central business district. When one of the Maryland cops confronted the group at an intersection, his car was quickly surrounded by the crowd. Some covered their faces, while others held signs and recorded the incident. In the distance, a car was doing donuts and creating clouds of smoke. When the cop tried to move closer, the crowd attempted to stop the vehicle using their bodies.
The situation escalated when the car’s front view was covered by smoke and someone tossed a stone at the Maryland cop’s windshield. The officer continued trying to do his duty and stop the street takeover, though later on the rear window of the cruiser was also smashed. Luckily, no Maryland cops were hurt during the incident, though no arrests were made despite the chaos caused by the street takeover.
Online, many people expressed frustration over what unfolded in Maryland. Some argued that takeover culture has gone too far and needs to be stopped entirely. “Takeover culture is corny,” one user said. Another added in agreement, “It actually is. When I was a kid we sold drugs and got drunk. Had lookouts. Took over blocks, not just streets. (Everyone at home, I’m not glorifying it.) This is something even we knew went too far. Clown behavior. Putting your little face online? We wouldn’t have ever done that.”
Others questioned why the police didn’t do more or arrest anyone during the Maryland takeover incident. “This video gets put out so people can send in tips if they recognize anyone. Usually they know who they are already or an investigation quickly determines it. Then they go get a warrant,” one user explained. “It’s tough to do anything with just a tag. You have to prove who was driving it. The registered owner could just say, ‘I wasn’t driving my car that night,’ and slam the door shut on the police. They could just not say anything at all. So they have to identify the drivers through videos on social media, body cam, in-car cam, etc.”
