In a scene that plays out like something from the end of western civilization, police in Maryland appear helpless in their squad cars as a dash cam captures a street takeover of cars doing doughnuts as masked hooligans taunt officers and vandalize their vehicles.
The video, released this week, documents the anarchy at the intersection of East West Highway and Connecticut Avenue shortly after midnight Sunday in Gaithersburg, Maryland, with rubber-burning cars blocking traffic and literally spinning circles around the police car.
As the squad car approaches, a group a masked ruffians dressed in identical blue hoodies leans on the hood of the car, one of them holding a sign “SHOTBYFRENCHIE,” advertising an Instagram account.
That social media account would later post a video, edited to music and featuring the police vehicles.
In one shot, a participant sprays fog from a theatrical smoke machine onto the cruiser, engulfing it as the hooligans dance in the streets, creating the feel of an urban dystopia.
Montgomery County police said the chaos started around 12:39 a.m. when a large caravan wa spotted heading toward the central business district in nearby Silver Springs, according to Fox News.
Officers moved to monitor the group and closed several intersections to limit access and protect the public but were unable to stop the event when it took place in Gaithersburg, according to news accounts.
As officers helplessly observe the event, a dispatcher on the radio says, “Stay in your cars. All officers stay in your vehicles.”
As the dispatcher cautions officers, the group in blue hoodies returns, one of them flipping off the cop with the dash cam as revelers dance in front of the hood.
A crack appears in the windshield, with police later saying two cruisers were vandalized with windows of their vehicles shattered. No officers were injured.
Before the caravan of street anarchists reached Montgomery County, three handguns were recovered during traffic stops conducted by Prince George’s County Police and Maryland State Police related to the gathering, Fox also reported.
Street takeovers, typically organized through social media, have apparently increased since the Covid pandemic with Los Angeles alone experiencing more than 500 hundred of them each year as a staple in its underground car culture.
According to the law enforcement think tank, the Police Executive Research Forum:
Cities face a menacing problem: street takeovers in which dozens or hundreds of cars meet up in one location to do donuts, race, and drive recklessly. Sometimes called “car meetups” or “sideshows,” these incidents increased in many cities when streets emptied out at the beginning of the pandemic and have continued through today. Many of those involved may be bored young people looking for something to do, but these events have led to many injuries to participants, bystanders, and police officers, as well as some murders.
The tactics of Montgomery County police in failing to stop the recent takeover are actually in keeping with what has become law enforcement protocol.
When these chaotic events are occurring, they become what officers consider a law enforcement “no man’s land,” with one Los Angeles County Sheriff’s sergeant explaining, “Our hands are tied by our limited resources, and we can’t really deal with the crowds.”
Platforms like Instagram and TikTok then create what social media experts call a “feedback loop,” where the desire for viral content drives more participants to attend and perform riskier stunts.
The Montgomery County Department of Police is asking for the public’s help identifying those responsible for the recent “sideshow.”
Veteran crime writer Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.
