Police cracking down on sideshows in Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa police have impounded 10 vehicles and arrested two sideshow participants since a Thanksgiving weekend filled with the illegal gatherings.

Each of the vehicles will be held for 30 days and the registered owner is required to pay for tow fees, storage fees and release fees. The costs total more than $2,500 per car, police said in a news release. Warrants are being issued for other vehicles, which will be listed as “wanted” in a California vehicle database. If the cars are stopped by police, they will be immediately impounded for 30 days. Vehicles cannot be registered with the DMV until the “wanted” status is cleared. Participants also face arrest and fines.

Participants came from throughout Sonoma County, elsewhere in the Bay Area and from Sacramento. The intersections most impacted were Hopper Avenue and Skyview, Link Lane and West 9th Street and West College Avenue and Link Lane.

Patrol officers broke up smaller gatherings during the two nights (Nov. 27 and 28), but were outnumbered in larger ones. There were reports of reckless driving, fights and shootings, but no victims of violent crime were located.

To deter the sideshows, the department’s traffic bureau is working with city street engineering and property owners to identify innovative solutions. Speed bumps in private parking lots and Botts’ dots on streets are proving to be effective in stopping the events, police said. But new strategies are needed to prevent the shows at intersections.

As a result of the many sideshows that have been reported, the Police Department and the city’s Office of Community Engagement held a series of listening sessions with residents about sideshows. The message was clear: stop illegal sideshows in our neighborhoods and hold participants accountable, police said.

“The SRPD Traffic Bureau continues to work with allied agencies throughout Northern California to identify vehicles and participants in illegal sideshows,” said Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Christopher Mahurin.

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com.