Cops took four people into custody on Saturday after a 100-car street takeover on I-75 near Tampa, Florida, turned into a wild, 140 mph police pursuit.
It all began around 1:30 a.m. on August 1, when a Florida Highway Patrol officer conducting traffic control reported receiving an alert from traffic cameras that about 100 vehicles were obstructing all northbound lanes near Mile Marker 266 in Thonotosassa to “perform burnouts.”
Florida’s street takeover law defines it as 10 or more automobiles coordinating to take over a roadway. The meet-up on Saturday easily exceeded that threshold. The statute also covers stunt driving, drifting, racing, burnouts, and spectator behavior.
Almost everyone left peacefully, but not everyone
As police began to arrive at the scene, video showed people hurrying to return to their cars and fleeing in automobiles. According to the police report, officers allowed most of the drivers to leave without charging them, but one trooper had to pursue a green BMW that took off at a “very high rate of speed.”
The BMW reached about 140 mph before leaving the freeway onto Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, running a red light at the Dona Michelle Drive intersection, and finally coming to a stop in a parking lot, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
WEAR News reported that the driver was taken into custody and charged with two felonies: participating in a street takeover and aggravated fleeing to evade. Police arrested and charged three passengers — two 18-year-olds and a 24-year-old — with misdemeanor highway racing. The officers booked all four into the Hillsborough County Jail.
Because of the safety risks they pose to drivers, participants, and spectators, street takeovers, especially those where participants use public roads to perform stunts like burnouts and other reckless driving maneuvers while crowds gather to watch, have been drawing significant attention from law enforcement agencies in Florida.
In the month of June, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Florida Highway Patrol made 22 arrests in connection with “Operation Braking News,” a crackdown on racing at car meet-up events.