Back on February 3, the San Joaquin County Sideshow Taskforce made a huge bust, arresting 150 people and seizing 88 cars that were part of a huge street takeover event. Apparently, the owners of those seized cars have been calling and whining about getting them back, so Sheriff Patrick Withrow shared a brutally honest message with them via Instagram recently.
Teen in BMW leads Florida police on chase just for “fun.”
In a recorded video, he informed the owners of those 88 vehicles that since they were used in the commission of a crime they're being held indefinitely. That's right, these street takeover enthusiasts clowns are starting to realize there can be serious consequences for breaking the law.
We wish more law enforcement agencies would be this hard-nosed with the street takeover or sideshow crowd. The problem never would have become so pervasive had everyone taken this approach. Instead, many law enforcement officials and prosecutors have treated this crowd with kid gloves.
Sheriff Withrow explained the only way the cars will be released is once the district attorney's office informs his office that each individual vehicle is no longer needed for the prosecution of the crimes committed. Knowing how fast the wheels of justice turn, these rides could be held in the impound lot for some time.
And Sheriff Withrow seems pleased at that likelihood. After all, as he notes they can't be used as a public nuisance again anytime soon. That means citizens in his county can actually drive through intersections freely and not have to fear they'll get on the bad side of a bunch of children who think they can take over roads whenever they please.
Now the real kicker is how Sheriff Withrow says he's looking at possibly going for “a destruction order for any vehicle deemed to be a public menace.”
We're normally not fans of destroying perfectly good cars just because they were used in the commission of a crime, but since these rides likely wouldn't be auctioned off and most of them are pretty thrashed anyway, this might be the only way to get the message to the street takeover gangs that they need to find a new hobby, preferably one that doesn't involve breaking the law.
Check out Sheriff Withrow's message for yourself.
This article originally appeared in The Auto Wire. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News. Republished with permission.
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