How did you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? Chances are you did not participate in a ridiculous street takeover but that is exactly what happened on Tuesday night in an area straddling Santa Ana and Costa Mesa.
Perhaps as many as 100 suspects in about 40 to 50 vehicles blocked traffic on Tuesday night at Sunflower Avenue and Sakioka Drive at about 7:48 p.m., according to the O.C. Register.
Unfortunate residents who were trying to drive through that area at the time were trapped in traffic until the police were able to clear the area, at about 8 p.m.
The Costa Mesa police even reported that a taco truck had shown up to the “event.”
The suspects sped off when Costa Mesa and SAPD police cruisers showed up at the scene. Some of the suspects drove off so fast that they almost lost control of their vehicles and one guy even ended up driving the wrong way – westbound on the eastbound lanes of Sunflower.
The street takeover attracted a crowd of young people who were hanging out on Sunflower – and police reported they were not even trying to maintain social distancing.
The Costa Mesa police department reported that these street takeovers have been a problem in their city – and often involve high performance cars and driving at high speed.
An SAPD Commander said that when the police show up the suspects just head to another intersection and “start doing donuts again.”
There was in fact a police pursuit and a collision on Tuesday night on Bristol Street that may have been related to the street takeover that evening. As usual no one was arrested.
Perhaps the Santa Ana City Council needs to pass a new ordinance allowing for the takeover and auction of these high performance cars when they are involved in street takeovers and illegal speeding?
