‘Sideshows’ threatening the Oakland community are ‘unacceptable’: Councilman Noel Gallo
District 5 Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo discusses his city’s struggle with a growing number of ‘sideshows’ threatening public safety.
A dangerous trend is threatening public safety in Oakland, California and causing city officials to consider new actions to crack down on the menacing "sideshows."
Drivers and spectators in the San Francisco Bay Area are increasingly shutting down intersections, neighborhood streets, parking lots and even bridges to put on dangerous performances like extreme donuts and even crashes.
"What's happening in our neighborhood corridors, business corridors is unacceptable," District 5 Oakland Councilman Noel Gallo told "America's Newsroom" Friday.
"[They] basically destroy our streets, our intersections, break our lights and crosswalks."
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One resident told The New York Post that drivers are wearing masks to hide their identities and pulling guns on anyone photographing license plates to report the behavior.
"It’s like ‘Fast & Furious’ has come to our neighborhood," Cheral Stewart said.
The events draw large crowds of participants and spectators which Gallo said even travel from outside the Oakland area.
"The police clearly tell us that 64% of those participating in sideshows are not from Oakland, they're coming from outside of the city of Oakland to destroy our streets, create safety issues not only for the community, but also for the spectator," Gallo said.
While "sideshows" are not new, the increased number of events and worsening conditions have the community demanding action.
A video in April captured nearly 100 motorcyclists illegally participating in a "sideshow" and blocking off traffic from driving on I-80 westbound at Center Anchorage on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
The event took place around 5:07 p.m. and brought traffic to a stop for a couple of minutes, according to California Highway Patrol (CHP).
Witnesses on the bridge told Fox 2 KTVU motorcyclists began driving in circles on the back wheel of their bikes. They were seen popping wheelies and doing "donuts."
Drivers can be heard in the video laying on the horn as the group continued to cause havoc.
"The event was very quick, literally two minutes," CHP San Francisco public information officer Mark Andrews told Fox News Digital. "They conducted their activities and left the scene prior to any CHP officers arriving in the area."
"We're trying to stop that behavior," Gallo noted.
"We live in challenged neighborhoods to begin with, where we are investing millions and millions of dollars to improve our crosswalks, our lighting, our streets, just to allow our children and families to go to school, to do their shopping and enjoyment of the neighborhood."
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Gallo shared that not only is he trying to invest in maintaining public safety and quality of life, but he is also paying for additional police presence to combat the "sideshow" activity.
"I'm also paying over time for a police sideshow unit. Not only the Oakland Police, but now I have the California Highway Patrol, the sheriff's department that are also participating," he said.
There have also been instances of perpetrators blocking police vehicles with their own cars to obstruct attempts at stopping these "sideshows." Gallo, however, warned those engaging in the activity that "we will find you."
"We catch you doing that right now, not only will we find you, impound your vehicle, but, we also have the opportunity to give you up to six months in prison," he said. "But right now, we're trying to discourage. I've sat down with some of the organizers and met with them. We try to find different opportunities where they perhaps can, at a racetrack, they can have these sideshow activities, but that didn't work out."
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When asked what can be done to discourage and prevent the illegal behavior, Gallo outlined options for his city.
"We need to stop that illegal behavior and protect our families and children," he said. "We need to create an ordinance that clearly defines imposing fines and penalties against organizers and facilitators of sideshows."
Fox News' Emily Robertson contributed to this report.