COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A Columbus resident’s dash camera captured the moment a car without a license plate took over an intersection and crashed into another vehicle – a growing trend law enforcement said started early this year.
On March 23, police were called to Williams Road and Alum Creek Drive in the South Alum Creek neighborhood when a car began stunt driving in the middle of the intersection. The takeover ended when the 21-year-old driver crashed into another car and a man was transported to a local hospital, according to Columbus Police Lieutenant Christopher Wayner. The man who was hit was transported to the hospital in stable condition and was not critically injured.
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“These burnouts and street takeover events and everything else started up early this year so we’re just trying to get ahead of it,” Wayner said. “The last couple of years were interesting, had a lot of large meet-ups.”
The driver who took over the intersection fled the scene but was later identified and cited for the accident, thanks to video footage taken by residents. Both cars sustained severe damage and were impounded, Wayner said. The case will be forwarded to the city attorney’s office who will determine if any criminal charges will be filed.
The street takeover near Obetz was not the only one police responded to on March 23 – Wayner said police had already cleared up “several” meetups earlier that night. Along with street takeovers in intersections, people will often perform stunt driving in large parking lots of closed businesses, according to Wayner.
“They’re putting a lot of themselves and their spectators at risk, so something we’re trying to deal with,” Wayner said. “[Last] April there was a large number of these and we had officers actually get shot at who were trying to break up an event. We’ve already had shots fired at events this year when we were clearing them out.”
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Ohio lawmakers are attempting to combat the issue with a bill that would increase penalties for stunt driving, which sponsor Rep. Andrea White said the state is seeing an increased frequency of.
“When you have situations where communities have several hundred people gathering at intersections, and multiple cars doing very dangerous stunt driving in the center of major intersections, and then all of the sudden multiple parties fleeing police, people are getting hurt, lives are being lost, property damaged,” White said in a March interview.
Under the legislation, activities such as donuts, burnouts, drifting, wheelies and tire-squealing, as well as allowing a passenger to ride partially or fully outside of a vehicle, would be classified as “stunt driving.” Any car involved in the act would be subject to seizure and forfeiture. The bill also states anyone rendering assistance to street racing, stunt driving or street takeover would be equally charged as participants.
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