Connect with us

Southwest

Deadly 'street takeovers' wreck communities across US, but Arizona police have formula to curb chaos

Published

on

Deadly 'street takeovers' wreck communities across US, but Arizona police have formula to curb chaos

Join Fox News for access to this content

Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account – free of charge.

By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News’ Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.

Please enter a valid email address.

Having trouble? Click here.

As “street takeovers” have been on the rise in communities across the country, police in Arizona have managed to decrease the dangerous chaos and crowds. 

“Back probably a year ago, we would have takeovers weekly, and then since March of this year, we haven’t had a single one in Phoenix or Tempe,” Sgt. Matt Barker, with the Tempe Police Department night traffic squad, told Fox News Digital. 

Advertisement

Barker discussed the work he and his team have done to produce such a large decline in the disruptions, while cities like Cleveland, Los Angeles and Tampa have seen recent trouble with takeovers.

“We started seeing the actual intersection takeovers in Phoenix … mid-COVID,” Barker said, adding that streets were desolate and nobody was out except for those participating in the takeovers. 

‘STREET TAKEOVERS’ TERRORIZE TOWNS ACROSS US AS FORMER DETECTIVE WARNS OF DEADLY CONSEQUENCES

He explained that before Tempe got control of its local takeovers, the Phoenix Police Department’s strong enforcement set the overall decline in motion. 

“Phoenix had a squad that was more of a task force in the beginning … they did the enforcement so well in Phoenix that they pushed it to all the other agencies,” Barker said. 

Advertisement

When one takeover became exceptionally forceful, Tempe police decided to take action. 

“We had an aggravated assault where a citizen went to confront a group down the street from his house. They took his car. Beat him up really bad. And then they basically joyrode his car in the middle of the intersection and then returned it to him with a cracked windshield, they were jumping up and down on it, just shattering everything,” Barker said. “So that was kind of when Tempe said, OK, enough’s enough, we have to do something about this.”

BRAZEN VIRGINIA ‘STREET TAKEOVER’ CAUGHT ON VIDEO LEAVES OFFICER INJURED; 4 CHARGED

Barker credits his city’s government with providing the necessary funding and resources for those in law enforcement to do their jobs. Tempe police were able to go undercover to gather intel on the groups taking over their streets. 

“We got involved with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to get some funding. We had basically explorers that looked like police cars…they couldn’t fit in very well,” Barker said. “So we got a couple of unmarked mustangs and were able to fit in with these groups. We were basically trying to identify the issues.”

Advertisement

Other state governments are now following suit. California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed four new bills aimed at helping law enforcement agencies across the state crack down on the disruptions, and Florida passed new legislation this year doubling the fines for first-time offenders caught drag racing or stunt driving on city streets. 

In addition to causing noise pollution, traffic obstructions, property damage and physical injuries, street takeovers can even cause death, Dominic Choi, the Los Angeles Police Department’s interim chief at the time, noted in a June report.

“We’re not allowed to call it a gang, but it’s about as close as you can get without calling it that,” Barker said. “I have seen more people get hit by a car in these takeovers than I think I have any other place” and “I know people that got shot over these things.”

DO MENENDEZ BROTHERS STAND A CHANCE AT FREEDOM?

Hundreds showed up to participate in a California street takeover near Costa Mesa and Santa Ana earlier this month, FOX Los Angeles reported. Dozens of people called 911 in Cleveland several weeks ago when wild crowds swarmed the streets with cars and guns in a disruptive street takeover, the Fox 8 I-Team reported.

Advertisement

The biggest reason for Tempe’s successful decline in takeovers? Barker emphasized “zero tolerance.”

“We did an operation in March, just kind of as an example. … We towed over 300 cars, arrested over 400 people just for the intersection takeovers and the street racing.” 

Tempe police used social media as a tool to help investigate these takeovers and hold participants accountable. 

“They were posting everything … where they were going to be, how many people, so it made it easy for us, and then we could use it all,” Barker said. “We’d write the search warrants and get the evidence that way, which was great because they were giving us the evidence of their crimes.”

Advertisement

While Tempe police have found a lasting solution to street takeovers in their area, Barker wants to share their story in the hopes that other cities and agencies may also reduce the ongoing disorder on their streets. 

“We have something that works. And instead of, you know, agencies taking six months to eight months just to figure it out, we have a plan that we are obviously more than happy to share and have shared,” Barker said.We learned from Phoenix and then we … kind of bumped it up and made it the next best thing. And then another agency can take it and make it their next best thing.”

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Los Angeles, Ca

LADWP begins long-term repairs after West Hollywood water main rupture

Published

on

LADWP begins long-term repairs after West Hollywood water main rupture

Crews worked overnight on what is expected to be a long-term effort to clean up and repair a broken water main that caused extensive damage in West Hollywood on Thursday.

Yellow tape remained in place Friday morning, blocking streets around Sunset Boulevard and Holloway Drive as crews continued pumping water out of the century-old trunk line.

Asphalt and soil were also being removed so crews could get a better look at the damaged 36-inch trunk line, a major feeder pipe serving the area.

  • Aerial view of flooded streets in West Hollywood.
  • A sinkhole opened up on a sidewalk in West Hollywood following a water main break
  • Aerial view of flooded Metro buses.
  • Aerial view of flooded streets in West Hollywood.
  • Water floods out of an apartment in West Hollywood
  • A broken water main floods a parking garage in West Hollywood
  • Rushing floodwaters pushes parked cars together on a flooded West Hollywood street after a water main break.
  • Rushing floodwaters pushes parked cars together on a flooded West Hollywood street after a water main break.
  • Residents stand with luggage and a dog at the entrance to an apartment parking garage as floodwaters from a water main break rush through a West Hollywood street.
  • Rushing floodwaters pushes parked cars together on a flooded West Hollywood street after a water main break.
  • Rushing floodwaters pushes parked cars together on a flooded West Hollywood street after a water main break.
  • Rushing floodwaters pushes parked cars together on a flooded West Hollywood street after a water main break.
  • A broken water main floods the streets of West Hollywood

“First and foremost is our crews’ safety,” a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokesperson said Thursday. “When we excavate, we are going to have to make sure the area is safe before we send crews in to proceed and start the actual repairs on the pipe.”

The water main ruptured around 3 a.m. Thursday, sending thousands of gallons of water rushing through West Hollywood streets, flooding dozens of garages and pushing parked cars into one another.

A Metro bus yard was also flooded, leaving several buses partially submerged.

Advertisement

The force of the water washed away dirt and gravel supporting the roadway, creating a massive sinkhole on Sunset Boulevard and a smaller one near Palm Avenue, where two people fell in.

“I’m astounded by the massive sinkhole that has just opened up before our eyes,” KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos reported Thursday from Palm Avenue.

The two men appeared to be uninjured.

As for the larger trunk line that burst beneath Sunset Boulevard, KTLA’s Carlos Herrera reported it was scheduled for replacement in 2031.

LADWP officials now hope to establish a repair timeline after getting a closer look at the damage Friday. For now, the intersection is expected to remain closed for anywhere from several days to several weeks.

Advertisement

The cause of the rupture remains under investigation.

Continue Reading

Los Angeles, Ca

Arrest made in deadly shooting at 4th of July gathering in Compton; search for 2nd suspect continues

Published

on

Arrest made in deadly shooting at 4th of July gathering in Compton; search for 2nd suspect continues

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna gave an update Thursday on several shootings over the Fourth of July weekend that left three people dead and several others injured.

Police arrested Antoine Jones, a 50-year-old man from the Los Angeles area, who they believe is responsible for the murder of a 19-year-old woman and the attempted murder of two additional surviving female victims who were attending a large community block party in Compton.

On July 4 at approximately 11:40 p.m., deputies from the Compton station responded to an apartment complex on the 700 block of West Laurel Street following reports of multiple people being shot.

Meah Bordenave-Jenkins, a 19-year-old nursing student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was killed when gunfire broke out at the party.

Meah Bordenave-Jenkins and Eric Washington are pictured in a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department bulletin. (LASD)

Deputies located Bordenave-Jenkins and the two other women suffering from gunshot wounds outside of the apartment complex.

Advertisement

“While today’s announcement represents an important step towards justice for Meah and her family, our work is very far from being over,” said LASD Sheriff Robert Luna.

The LASD is also seeking the public’s help in identifying those responsible for the murder of Eric Washington, 37, a beloved community activist and former government staffer, and the attempted murder of another surviving man injured that same night at the same party.

Washington was reportedly killed while trying to deescalate a conflict at the party, his family said. Deputies found victim Washington suffering from a gunshot wound inside the complex.

Investigators later learned that another man had also been shot at some point during the incident.

Bordenave-Jenkins and Washington both died from their injuries. The remaining victims, two women and a man, sustained non-life-threatening injuries and have been released from the hospital. They have not been identified by police.

Advertisement

Detectives determined the two shootings happened moments apart at the party but appear to be separate and unrelated.

  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • Compton fatal shooting
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration
  • 2 dead, 3 injured at Compton July 4 celebration

Detectives identified Jones as the suspect responsible for Bordenave-Jenkins’ death and the attempted murder of the two surviving women. Authorities located Jones on July 14 in Los Angeles and took him into custody.

The LASD is still searching for the suspect or suspects responsible for the murder of Washington and the attempted murder of the surviving male victim.

“Although today’s arrest is significant, this investigation remains extremely active,” Luna said.

“There were hundreds of people at this gathering,” Luna said. “Somebody knows, somebody saw or somebody heard what happened.”

The LASD also announced they’re searching for a suspect in a separate shooting at a different Fourth of July gathering that occurred in the early morning of July 5.

Advertisement

At approximately 12:10 a.m., Compton deputies responded to the 2100 block of North Grandee Avenue, where they located a 30-year-old victim, Thaddeus Clark, and a second victim suffering from gunshot wounds at the gathering.

Clark, a father of three, did not survive his injuries, Luna said.

The LASD is urging anyone with information about Clark’s murder and the attempted murder of the surviving victim to contact the LASD Homicide Bureau.

Although these shooting incidents occurred at gatherings less than an hour apart, investigators found no evidence that the two were connected, Luna said.

Luna also announced three suspects have been arrested in connection with a shooting in East L.A. on July 5. It happened as crowds crossed the intersection near Whittier Boulevard and Leonard Avenue during a World Cup match.

Advertisement

Four people were hit by gunfire, including two men, one woman and a boy. None of the injuries were life-threatening.

The sheriff said the alleged shooter, a 15-year-old known gang member, was arrested. Two female suspects, ages 21 and 38, have been arrested in the Lancaster and Palmdale areas for their alleged roles in luring the primary victim to the location and assisting the shooting suspect in evading arrest.

They’re all facing four counts of attempted murder.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Los Angeles, Ca

Water main break floods West Hollywood streets, traps cars

Published

on

Water main break floods West Hollywood streets, traps cars

A broken water main sent water gushing from an apartment building and turned nearby streets into rivers in West Hollywood early Thursday morning. The break was reported around 3 a.m. near Holloway Drive and Sunset Boulevard. “It’s a rupture of one of the significant mains that goes through here. West Hollywood, as it turns out, […]

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending