The California Highway Patrol did not need much narration for this one.
A video posted on Facebook opens with the kind of footage that makes illegal sideshows internet catnip: cars spinning donuts, tires smoking, and spectators packed around the action.
People can be seen hanging out of vehicle windows as drivers whip cars around the pavement.
And then there is the guy with the crutch.
For a few seconds, the whole thing looks like exactly what the participants presumably wanted it to look like — loud, chaotic, and very good at attracting cameras.
Then the video changes.
Then Came The Flatbeds
The second half shows what CHP says happened after a recent sideshow in its area.
Cars appear damaged along the side of the road. People are shown being detained. Vehicles are loaded onto flatbed tow trucks.
“WE WARNED YOU — SIDESHOWS HAVE CONSEQUENCES,” CHP wrote with the video.
The agency said the sideshow resulted in multiple arrests and the impoundment of vehicles.
CHP did not identify the people arrested or provide a detailed breakdown of the alleged offenses in the post.
But it made its intended message fairly difficult to miss.
“Don’t participate. Don’t encourage it. Don’t put yourself or others at risk,” the agency wrote.
California Has Given Police More Sideshow Tools
California has also expanded the tools available to police dealing with sideshows.
CHP explained that laws taking effect in 2025 broadened vehicle-impound and arrest authority connected to exhibitions of speed, including activity in off-street parking facilities.
Another change formally treats the terms “sideshow” and “street takeover” as referring to the same kind of event under California law.
That does not mean every person appearing in a sideshow video committed the same offense or faces the same consequence. The particular conduct and circumstances still matter.
It does mean the flatbeds at the end of CHP’s video were not merely there for dramatic editing.
The Comments Were Watching The Editing Too
A surprising amount of the reaction focused less on the drivers than on whoever assembled CHP’s video.
“Stockton CHP social media guy or girl needs a raise …!!! 😂😂😂,” one commenter wrote.
“Better video then what they would’ve made haha,” another said.
One viewer noticed the same supporting character we did:
“Lmao the guy with the crutch.”
Car enthusiasts also objected to lumping sideshows together with organized drag racing.
“Thank you for NOT including drag racers with the sideshow crowd,” one commenter wrote. “We actually LIKE traction.”
Another added, “Even as a car enthusiast i want to see these go away. People get hurt and its just a stupid event.”
And after seeing the vehicles hauled away, one commenter spotted a Crown Victoria and supplied perhaps the best epilogue:
“Crown vic on the other side of the law now.”