Statewide efforts to put the brakes on sideshows, takeovers and street races will get a bolster from a $2 million grant funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The $2 million Sideshow, Takeover, Racing, Education, and Enforcement Taskforce (STREET II) grant was awarded to the California Highway Patrol and is earmarked for a public education campaign and specialized enforcement operations. The grant builds on the CHP’s $5.5 million funding in the 2022-23 state budget specifically targeted to curb street racing and sideshows.
“Illegal street racing and sideshows are not just reckless activities; they are potential tragedies in the making. These events put lives at risk, not only for the participants but also for innocent bystanders,” said CHP Commissioner Sean Duryee. “The STREET II grant will enhance community outreach efforts and enforcement measures to protect the safety and well-being of California’s communities and ensure our roadways remain safe for everyone.”
Sideshows, in their current form, are when drivers take over a particular area and perform stunts like spinning out around a crowd of onlookers. The spots taken over can vary from a parking lot to a deserted street to a busy intersection to a highway. Sideshows are typically organized via social media with the locations closely guarded. Those setting up the sideshows also have other locations already set, so if one proves unusable, they move onto the next spot. Law enforcement has to make a large response for it to have any impact, which can require multiple agencies coordinating together and often times the efforts are hampered by the onlookers.
In 2021, the CHP responded to more than 7,300 incidents of illegal sideshows statewide with nearly 123,000 participants. Between Jan. 1, 2022, and July 31, 2023, enhanced speed enforcement operations were carried out on state routes experiencing a surge in speed-related problems including motorists exceeding 100 mph on state highways, illegal street racing and sideshow activities. During this period, the CHP issued more than 31,000 citations to motorists for exceeding 100 mph.
Sideshows and street racing have been a problem for local law enforcement and continues to plague Turlock roads and intersections, sometimes with deadly outcomes. On Dec. 30 and 31, 2022, the Turlock Police Department were kept busy breaking up one sideshow after another, with some drawing in hundreds of spectators. Officers were arriving at the intersection of Fulkerth Road and Tegner Road when they heard multiple gunshots. A panicked crowd fled from the scene as officers made their way into the midst of the commotion, which is where they found Dayron Ledezma with a gunshot wound that proved fatal within mere minutes.
A second gunshot victim was rushed from the scene to a nearby hospital for treatment. Later a third gunshot victim showed up at a hospital and investigators were able to connect the injury to the sideshow shooting.
The shooting was just the apex of violent activities that had been building at sideshows in Turlock. There have been crashes, fights and in May of 2021, spectators mobbed a Turlock Fire engine that was responding to a call nearby. In other incidences, police patrol cars have been surrounded by spectators, preventing the officers from pursuing the fleeing racers.
In 2021-2022, the Turlock Police Department had close to 160 incidents of sideshow calls or sideshow-related calls, with most occurring on the westside of town, followed by the Monte Vista Crossings shopping area.
Hoping to make Turlock a less attractive location for the sideshows and prevent the drain on law enforcement, the Turlock City Council passed an ordinance in February of this year that would make being a sideshow spectator a misdemeanor crime punishable by an administrative fine of $1,000 per incident and/or up to six months in jail. A ‘spectator’ is defined in the ordinance as “any person who is present at a street race or reckless driving exhibition, or the site of the preparations for either of these activities, for the purpose of viewing, observing, watching or witnessing the event as it progresses.” The spectator must also be within 200 feet of the location of the street race or sideshow to be cited.
The Modesto City Council took the efforts to stop sideshows to an even higher level this summer. They unanimously passed an ordinance that fines drivers and passengers $3,500; organizers and promoters $3,000 and spectators $2,500.
The CHP will work in collaboration with allied agencies to establish task forces targeting street racing and sideshows. SA similar type of effort was made in Turlock following the incident with the fire truck. A total of 16 officers from Turlock Police and the California Highway Patrol focused on combating illegal traffic activities in the area, resulting in 65 citations being issues, one arrest and two vehicles towed. An enforcement effort on March 4, 2022 with Turlock Police, CHP and Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office in the Regal Cinemas/Tractor Supply parking lot resulted in 21 traffic stops and 20 citations for vehicle code violations.
The STREET II grant supports a comparable yearlong campaign through Sept. 30, 2024.
