Richmond police say they were able to stop a planned “takeover” of the city as it was happening. The events started at 9 PM on February 19 at various locations around the city.
The event, which according to Instagram posts was hosted by @project.RVA.takeover, was attended by approximately 300 drivers intending to engage in illegal activities, such as burnouts and doughnuts in intersections, though one viewer claimed there were up to 1,500 people in attendance, reports NBC12.
Police were alerted to the event thanks to the social media posts that were monitored, some of which can still publicly be seen.
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“We watch social media quite a bit, monitoring for any illegal activities and things that can help us in the investigation, and we came across it, and we started to monitor it very closely,” said Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith.
As a result, the cops were waiting for the drivers and say they diffused six meet-up locations that night. In the end, they issued 45 tickets for a variety of reasons, including reckless driving and disregarding a red light.
“That’s very dangerous behavior – speeding. You’re talking about they are taking their life in their own hand, and not only their life but an innocent pedestrian who may not know exactly what’s taking place,” said Smith.
One person, Richard C Shreve, Jr., was charged with a felony eluding the police, reckless driving, and illegal window tinting. The police also impounded his car.
“Our message is clear and simple, we will not tolerate this activity on the streets of Richmond and we will strictly enforce the law when it comes to potentially endangering the lives of others”, said Smith. “I’m proud of how our officers stopped efforts to wreak havoc on the city of Richmond, they prevented what could have been a very tragic event.”