Five people have been arrested after seeing revelers hanging out of car windows while drivers made dangerous donuts during a weeklong street takeover in Miami – as gatherings continue to spread across the country
Five young adults have been arrested and charged after a dangerous intersection at a Miami intersection left people hanging out of cars while drivers drank donuts.
The suspects were involved in intersection takeovers, where cars converge to race and perform dangerous stunts, in Northwest Miami-Dade between Dec. 30 and Jan. 6, police said.
The extensive enforcement operation to arrest those involved in the Miami rallies included the Homeland Security Bureau, the Intelligence and Investigations Section, the Priority Response Team, Robbery Intervention and the North Operations Division's uniform patrol units .
The crackdown is the latest attempt by police to stop and arrest people involved in the events.
Dangerous street takeovers have cropped up across the country in recent months, leading to images of cars doing tricks on people nearby. At other events, groups have thrown fireworks at police or rushed away to avoid being caught.
Five young adults have been arrested and charged after a dangerous intersection at a Miami intersection left people hanging out of cars as drivers drank donuts
The extensive enforcement operation involved the Homeland Security Bureau and the Department of Intelligence and Investigations
A topless Dodge Charger driven by Joshua Dalmond, 23, approached the intersection and began doing donuts, police said
Around 2:15 a.m. on Dec. 30, several vehicles blocked the road at the intersection of Northwest 151st Street and Northwest 7th Avenue in Miami, authorities said.
An unhooded Dodge Charger driven by Joshua Dalmond, 23, approached the intersection and began doing donuts in the pit as onlookers watched and recorded for about 10 minutes.
Dalmond drove to three other intersection takeovers in the area, where he performed more tricks for onlookers, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by CBS Miami.
On New Year's Eve, Dalmond appeared twice more at the takeover of intersections in the area. He was later arrested at his home on January 2 and charged with drag racing.
At the intersection of Northwest 54th Street and Northwest 27th Avenue, Cameron Lomax, 19, and Chelsy Gamez, 20, were driving a white Corvette doing donuts around 2 a.m. on Jan. 2.
Lomax was charged with drag racing and operating a vehicle without a valid driver's license, and Gamez was arrested and charged with passengers involved in highway drag racing.
On Saturday 6, Jearial Garcia, 21, and Andres Culp, 18, were doing donuts at the I-75 Park & ββRide in Hialeah while driving the red Mazda Miata and gray Chevrolet Tahoe, respectively.
Officers had to chase the suspects after they fled.
Garcia was charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, openly carrying a weapon, fleeing and eluding law enforcement, and drag racing. Culp was arrested and charged with highway drag racing.
Andres Culp, 18, was arrested and charged with highway drag racing for his alleged role in a Miami rally
Joshua Dalmond, 23, (left) and Chelsy Gamez, 20, (right) were both arrested for their roles in the alleged New Year's street takeover in Miami
Cameron Lomax, 19, (left) and Jearial Garcia, 21, (right) are charged in the Miami street takeover, police said
The Miami rallies come after a series of dangerous intersection takeovers last year wreaked havoc across the country.
An illegal street takeover in Indiana in December drew more than 500 cars β some doing dangerous stunts while people hung out of windows β and ended with gunfire as police tried to disperse the gathering.
The rally drew cars from five states and video shows the huge crowd in a parking lot watching the stunts.
Police tried to stop the gathering, but it led to a one-car chase that ended in an officer firing shots and two officers being injured.
βIt's undesirable to the community and it's a very dangerous activity,β Northwest Indianapolis Police Chief Lorenzo Lewis said of the increase in takeovers.
Videos released by police of the incident showed the sheer size and dangerous stunts performed by drivers – often as people hung out of windows or women twerked the way cars did donuts.
Smoke could be seen around the tires as cars screeched across the road.
Police said drivers came from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont for the event. Officers initially turned drivers away from Research Drive, but motorists used social media to set up new locations Saturday through Sunday, police said.
Around midnight, the situation escalated when police were clearing a parking lot in the 2800 block of Lafayette Road, where several vehicles were driving dangerously, Fox 59 reports.
Police in Indiana were called in to help stop a massive illegal takeover involving 500 cars from five states
Video showed drivers performing dangerous stunts as people hung out of windows
Takeovers are unsanctioned events where motorists meet, including cars blocking roads and performing tricks.
Police said drivers from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont came for the event in which women twerked out the windows of moving cars
A police officer said he heard “several” gunshots upon arrival.
Police identified a vehicle driven by 23-year-old Sebastian Jimenez, who they said failed to stop. As police gave chase, Jimenez fled into a dead-end parking lot. There he made a U-turn and rammed a police car head-on.
Two police officers confronted the car, with one officer firing his weapon, although no one was injured in the shooting.
Jimenez then sped south before crashing into another vehicle at an intersection.
He and his female passenger, along with two officers involved in the incident, were treated for minor crash injuries.
Jimenez has since been charged with use of a deadly weapon, criminal recklessness and reckless driving.
The unnamed officer who fired the weapon has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, which is standard procedure.