Street takeover shuts down Morgan Park over weekend, leads to more than 170 calls to police
A Morgan Park intersection turned into a racetrack of sorts over the weekend, with dozens of cars drifting and doing donuts in a busy thoroughfare.
The alderman says police hands are tied when it comes to responding to these kinds of incidents.
Video from late Saturday night caught a few cars whipping around, while a couple dozen cars blocked the intersection of 111th and Western. At one point, a modified exhaust of a black sedan can be heard going off.
"I did hear something like a 'bang, bang, bang,'" said Christine McGovern.
McGovern, who lives down the street, says some questioned if they were gunshots.
"That's what caught our attention. It was loud," said Dontae Walls.
Walls was working at a bar right next door. He came out and watched the scene play out for a few minutes before Chicago police pulled up. That's when everyone immediately got in their cars and drove off.
"Ah man, them boys fast. They got out of here real fast," Walls said.
Chicago police say they were at the scene three minutes after the first 911 call.
"Some communities have been completely plagued by this. This is the first time we've seen this here in Morgan Park," said Ald. Matt O'Shea (19th).
He says Chicago police received more than 170 calls to 911 for drifting Saturday into Sunday.
The intersection, now littered with tire marks, O'Shea says 12 police districts responded to incidents that night, but the takeover got the most attention.
O'Shea says police cannot chase after the drivers in a pursuit unless it's needed for a lifesaving measure. CPD says they are relying on videos to identify license plates and hopefully catch the people involved.
"My hope is that we can identify some of these vehicles and impound them and hit these people in the pocketbook," O'Shea said.
He says the group fled south toward Blue Island and that people in this neighborhood did the right thing by calling 911, but he wants to work on strengthening city ordinances and laws to hold these people accountable.
O'Shea says that for those who take part, not only should their cars be impounded, but they should also be taken into custody.