Arrests made at street race gathering
OKC police impound vehicles, seize weapons
More than 100 individuals have been arrested following a street racing gathering in Oklahoma.
Residents in the area reportedly filed complaints prompting the Oklahoma City Police Department to disrupt the meet and take action. The June 11 gathering involved trespassing on private land, specifically a warehouse in the 8700 block of S Pole Road, where racers and bystanders were taken into custody.
Apart from the arrests, more than 50 vehicles were impounded and several weapons were recovered, including five handguns and an AR-15. They also recovered one stolen car.
MSgt. Dillon Quirk of the Oklahoma City Police Department said that while these were significant numbers, the results were not so unusual.
“It’s not uncommon to seize automatic firearms or handguns at gatherings or events of this type. We’ve had operations where we’ve seen it before, somewhat regularly,” Quirk said.
The police department tweeted that, in total, there were more than 110 arrests and 110 citations issued.
Street takeover gatherings involve reckless driving, loud music and street racing, and are often carried out on public roads and highways. Oklahoma City police said they started receiving tips about the gatherings in early May.
This incident draws parallels to a previous incident in which police arrested nearly 70 people on trespassing complaints as drivers were reportedly hot-rodding in a Hobby Lobby parking lot in southwest Oklahoma City near an I-240 Service Road. At least 67 people were arrested on complaints of trespassing that night.
Still, police maintain this is a normal but somewhat infrequent happening.
“As for there being any sort of pattern or persistence of this kind of event, we simply received a tip and when we have tips of this nature, we intend to follow them up as effectively as we can,” Quirk said.