Oakland police towed at least 85 cars and arrested two people in the early morning hours of Sunday after hundreds of cars descended on Oakland to take part in sideshows around the city, authorities said.
Two officers received minor injuries during crackdowns on the sideshows.
Around midnight Saturday, drivers from around the Bay Area and Northern California held sideshows near Interstate 880 on-ramps and off-ramps at 42nd Avenue, along Hegenberger Road near 880, and near 106th Avenue at Interstate 580, according to Oakland Police Department Lt. Mark Rhoden.
Gunshots were fired into the air during sideshows, and some officers trying to clamp down on the activities had rocks and bottles thrown at them, police said.
One officer was hit by a flying object, and another officer in a patrol car was rammed by a car participating in the sideshows, Rhoden said. The sideshows wrapped up just before 5 a.m. Sunday.
Rhoden said officers warned crowds the sideshows amounted to an unlawful assembly and they needed to disperse, but many participants didn’t leave the areas, and continued to either participate in the sideshows or aid them by blocking streets with cars.
Some people left their cars behind after police broke up some of the sideshows, adding to the total number of cars towed.
On its Twitter account Sunday morning, the Oakland Police Department said police were still tallying cars towed, and “anticipate the number of tows to rise to close to 100.”
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