Around 1:49 am April 18th, police responded to multiple 911 calls reporting drag racing near Eliot Avenue and 69th Street within the 104 precinct. The drag race turned chaotic when individuals climbed onto a patrol vehicle and damaged it. Police say officers arrived within a minute and activated lights and sirens to disperse the gathering.
Most of the vehicles and attendees left the area without incident. However, during the dispersal, three unidentified individuals jumped onto the hood of a marked police vehicle, and caused damage and cracked the windshield. Afterwards, the individuals fled in a vehicle in an unknown direction.
Additional units canvassed the surrounding streets to deter further reckless driving at the direction of the precinct’s commanding officer. During that canvass, one motorist was issued a summons for blocking a crosswalk. Police have not released descriptions of the individuals involved, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Local Queens councilman Phil Wong says, “I’ve seen the videos of what happened, and it is disgusting. This kind of reckless behavior is an attack on our quality of life, and it cannot be tolerated. These takeovers and ongoing late-night car meetups blasting music are exactly the kind of chaos my office is working to stop.”
Wild video of the car takeover was shared on social media, showing multiple cars doing tire-screeching donuts near a ring of fire on the street. “They were spinning the cars, doing donuts, and the fire they put, they put alcohol in the pavement, and lit it on fire,” a resident who has lived near the intersection for the past three years, named Steve, 54, said.
Around 100 vehicles were involved in the takeover, Wong said on X. Residents living nearby were awakened from their sleep to the shrieking and squealing of the tires breaking at high speed.
No one was injured in the incident. “They were all teenagers, maximum 20 years old,” Steven said. “I blame the parents. It’s very expensive cars.” The police commissioner was assured that the NYPD would make arrests in the incident.
