San Francisco Police Impound 11 Vehicles, Issue Citations In January Sideshow
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Nearly a dozen vehicles have been impounded and citations have been issued in connection with a sideshow on Dolores Street last month, San Francisco Police announced Thursday.
Police said officers with the Stunt Driving Response Unit responded to the area of Dolores and 30th streets around 2:45 a.m. on January 24 and found more than 100 vehicles gathered for the sideshow, where drivers performed stunts and blocked streets.
Officers then told the crowd to return to their vehicles, and while most complied, 11 vehicles were left unattended. The unit impounded the vehicles and 10 drivers were cited.
The cited drivers ranged in age from 18 to 23 and were all from out of town, hailing from the cities of Antioch, Castro Valley, Oakland, Petaluma, San Leandro, San Mateo, Santa Rosa and Stockton, police said.
"Stunt driving events are a dangerous trend that poses especially grave risks to a city as densely populated as San Francisco," Police Chief Bill Scott said in a statement. "And the fact that most of these violators are very young, inexperienced drivers makes this trend especially worrisome."
Under a recently enacted city law, police said violators may have their vehicles impounded for up to 30 days.
"The confiscating of 11 cars is, in my opinion, the saving of 11 lives," said Supervisor Ahsha Safai, who co-authored the tougher rules.
Police said while citations have been issued, the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information about the January 24 incident or other sideshows is asked to call the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444 or via text at "TIP411", beginning the message with "SFPD".
