DENVER — Engines revved, tires squealed, and fireworks lit up the sky as another street takeover disrupted a Denver neighborhood late Sunday night, renewing calls for action to put an end to the dangerous trend.
The latest takeover happened at the intersection of East 10th Avenue and North Broadway around 10:40 p.m. Video shows cars taking over the intersection, doing donuts and lighting fireworks, while other drivers lay on their horns to get through.
Denver Police said officers from the department's street racing team responded, but said the vehicles left the area as officers arrived. DPD said officers did not make any arrests or cite anyone.
A separate street takeover happened at Broadway and Mississippi earlier this month and another on Federal Boulevard in July.
Micaiah Lambright lives near 10th and Broadway and said he heard the most recent takeover on Sunday night.
"It was about 10:30 when I think the noise just became out of control," Lambright said. "You could tell that there were people driving at the time that were trapped in it because there was a lot of car honking from various corners."
Lambright said he and others in the neighborhood had heard of street takeovers happening elsewhere in the city but had not experienced one so close before.
"Just the fact that you know they seem to be coming closer and closer to downtown, it feels like you know they're they're sort of taunting the city, because we hear it continue. You know, we hear stories about it from other neighborhoods," Lambright said. "I think something needs to be done, especially if if the mayor, you know, envisions the downtown metro area as more of a residential area. The streets have to be safe, like a residential neighborhood."
State Representative Chad Clifford, a Democrat representing Arapahoe County, sponsored a bill during last year's legislative session to crack down on street takeovers, which he said have become a trend across the state.
Clifford said the events have grown in scale and sophistication, including efforts to evade police. He said existing laws are not equipped to address what is happening on Colorado roads.
"We don't have a law on the books today that just perfectly articulates what we're talking about with street takeover events," Clifford said. "They're hard to track, hard to deal with, hard to get resources to. And heck, by the time you get cops out to them to engage with them, they're typically gone, or it's broken up."
The bill he sponsored alongside Rep. Chris Richardson, a Republican representing the Eastern Plains, would have created escalating penalties for stunt driving while making it a Class 6 felony to take part in a coordinated street takeover. It also would have included fines, license suspension, and possible vehicle impoundment.
The legislation died in committee over concerns that the definitions were too broad and could end up targeting cultural groups, like lowriders.
"There is nothing in that bill that we found that was particular to that. In fact, most of the people that are prosecuted for street racing are white men over 30," said Clifford.
He said tougher penalties do not always work, but when it comes to traffic safety, he said the evidence suggests escalating penalties do have an impact. He said to expect a version of the bill to return in the next legislative session.
A spokesperson for DPD said the department's street racing team is made up of a supervisor and several officers pulled from different districts across the city. DPD said the team does not patrol every night, but instead, schedules operations around the days and times when street racing and takeover activity has historically been the highest.
The spokesperson for the department said during those operations, officers proactively patrol parking lots, roads, and highways where street takeovers and street racing have been reported.
As of the beginning of August, DPD said it had made at least 59 arrests, impounded 44 vehicles and issued 289 citations related to street racing and speed exhibition this year.
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