Police using new strategy to break up illegal street takeovers

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LOS ANGELES, CA (FOX 11) - [Portions of this video are for restricted use in the Los Angeles area.]

Following a number of reports Sunday night of street racing and reckless driving, authorities are now ending the incidents with tow trucks. The police say they're using this new strategy because they can't always get to the street racers because they are blocked in by the spectators' vehicles.

Sunday night around 11:30pm at 135th and Broadway, hundreds of cars block that intersection while others put on quite the show. It was an illegal street takeover, but it didn't seem like anyone cared, until a spectator was hit by one of the drivers, slamming onto a windshield but somehow walking away from the incident.

California Highway Patrol officers broke the street takeover up, impounding several cars at the scene and citing others. But, the street takeover wasn't really over -- it just moved to Compton and Main a couple hours later. CHP eventually broke that oneup, too, towing at least 8 vehicles for blocking the roadway. Police say spectators are using their cars to block the street so they can't actually get to the street racers, so they're new strategy is to go after the spectators.

Even though a lot of people were cited and had their cars towed away, apparently it didn't discourage everyone from leaving the area. Around 4:00am Monday morning, an officer told us someone in front of their patrol car suddenly started showing off by doing donuts with their vehicle. That driver ended up in the patrol car's back seat on the way to jail, and his car was impounded.