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Dozens Of Cars Involved In Dangerous San Jose Sideshow

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- A sideshow on a San Jose freeway brought traffic to a halt early Sunday morning and led to numerous citations and impounded vehicles, according to police.

At about 1:16 a.m. Sunday, San Jose police responded to the area of the San Jose Airport on a report of reckless driving where vehicles were spinning out, doing "donuts" and blocking traffic on Highway 87 in both directions.

Dashcam footage taken by a bystander hints at the brewing chaos.

Traffic on the freeway comes to a complete stop across all the lanes and both shoulders as well.

A man is seen walking along the concrete divider on the freeway, while another tags it, all with the San Jose skyline in the background.

San Jose sideshow
San Jose sideshow (CBS)

And then the dangerous car stunts began.

A Mazda Miata spins a few donuts while onlookers shoot video with their cell phone cameras. The video shows the driver narrowly misses hitting one of the participants as the car skids in circles.

It ends just as quickly as it begins. As an officer attempted to drive through the area, the rear window of the police vehicle was shattered and people kicked the vehicle as it drove by.

Soon afterwards, police arrived in force and surrounded the area.

As the cars speed off, a glass bottle thrown at the photographer can be heard shattering in the video.

Police did not have to do much to arrest at least one of the suspects. That's because the car he was in took off without him, and left him out here on foot.

While it was unclear how many cars were involved, several dozen were captured on video fleeing the area. But they didn't get very far.

Police shut down multiple intersections and successfully cornered several drivers about two miles away on Brokaw road.

It was a group effort as the CHP and Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies detained, questioned and cited several racers.

San Jose police issued seven citations and impounded four cars.

There were no injuries reported in the incident.

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