Car repeatedly rams second burning vehicle at chaotic Oakland sideshow
OAKLAND -- A driver repeatedly plowed into a burning car during a violent and chaotic sideshow in Oakland early Saturday morning.
While Oakland police have yet to release any information about the incident, the sideshow activity in the area of the Alameda County Courthouse south of Lake Merritt began at around 10:45 p.m. Friday. Video obtained by CBS News Bay Area showed the dangerous scene unfolding at around 1 a.m. near the intersection of Oak Street and 10th near the Oakland Museum of California.
Oakland police responded to the sideshow activity and set up a perimeter of several block around the sideshow. A vehicle was lit on fire as it sat on 10th street next to the building that houses Crash Champions Collision Repair. As crowds watched the vehicle burn, a masked individual was seen getting into a Subaru, which he then used to ram the burning vehicle.
As the driver in the Subaru repeatedly plowed into the burning car, crowds gathered and watched while recording cellphone video. A short time later, police appeared to throw flash bangs near the burning vehicle to disperse the crowds. Fireworks were also seen being set off in the area near the intersection.
Oakland Fire units later arrived at the scene once the crowds were cleared and put out the flames, which had spread to the Subaru that the masked driver had abandoned. According to a witness, sideshow spectators were seen throwing bottles at police, which led to authorities using tear gas.
So far there is no word from authorities It's unknown if anyone was injured in the incident. A witness said at around 2:20 a.m., Oakland police broke down the perimeter to the incident and released the people in the area.
There was no word on arrests or citations but at least two vehicles were seen in video being towed from the area.
The sideshow was one of several that broke out in the wake of Cinco de Mayo festivities late Friday and early Saturday. Some of the vehicles involved in a sideshow at San Pablo Avenue and Merchant Street in Crockett are believed to have moved on to participate in the Oakland sideshow.
Narem Kuma, the manager of Korner Grocery, located a few steps away where the car was set ablaze, described it as "scary" when he arrived in the morning and found out what had happened.
"When I came in the early morning and I'm in the store, somebody told me that something happened outside," Kuma said.
Kuma, who has witnessed similar incidents before, was relieved that he had closed his store before midnight.
"It's scary. It's scary," he said.
KPIX correspondent José Martínez contributed to this report
