A month after Los Angeles police surrounded a massive street takeover and hauled away 200 vehicles, some of those cars are finally going home — along with bills running into the thousands of dollars.
Drivers and vehicle owners showed up Monday at the Los Angeles Police Department’s South Traffic Division with paperwork needed to recover cars seized during September’s “Operation Street Sweeper.” One driver told FOX 11 Los Angeles that getting his vehicle back would cost him about $2,800.
For at least one parent, the financial hit came with another surprise. He said he had allowed his son to borrow his vehicle for what he believed was a party, then spent nearly three weeks trying to determine where the car had gone.
Now LAPD officials are using the return of those vehicles to reinforce a warning aimed at parents: know where your children are, and know what they are doing with the family car.
A Costly Return
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The Sept. 5 operation unfolded near South Figueroa Street and West Alondra Boulevard in Harbor Gateway after LAPD’s Street Racing Task Force tracked a series of planned street takeovers.
More than 700 people eventually gathered at the intersection. More than 150 LAPD officers moved in, supported by personnel from the California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The operation ended with 69 arrests, 570 citations and 200 impounded vehicles, according to figures released afterward. Of those cited, 442 received citations for spectating at a speed contest or exhibition of speed. Another 128 were juveniles cited for curfew violations.
Police also recovered seven firearms and canisters of nitrous oxide.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said after the operation that the department had encountered children as young as 11 at street takeovers and urged parents to keep track of where their children were going.
Three Weeks
One father interviewed by FOX 11 said he had given his son permission to take his car to a party in September.
He said he did not know the car had instead ended up connected to the street takeover crackdown.
“It took me almost three weeks to find out where my car was,” the father said.
By the time he arrived to retrieve it, he was siding with the police response.
“I hope it’s a lesson,” he told the station, adding that he had encouraged LAPD to continue the enforcement because he believed consequences might be the only thing that stops some young drivers from participating.
LAPD South Bureau Commander Elaine Morales made a similar point.
“I think the message here is, these parents didn’t know where their kids were,” Morales told FOX 11. “And we need these parents to know where their kids are.”
She described illegal street racing and takeovers as both dangerous and a persistent nuisance for surrounding neighborhoods.
The Bill Arrives
The vehicles themselves created another consequence long after the street takeover ended.
One driver identified by FOX 11 as Jose said cameras had captured him in handcuffs during the September enforcement operation. A month later, he was back trying to collect his vehicle.
He estimated the cost at roughly $2,800 and said the amount would continue increasing if he left the vehicle in storage.
California law permits vehicles connected to certain speed-contest, reckless-driving and exhibition-of-speed arrests to be impounded for as long as 30 days, although the statute also provides circumstances in which a vehicle must be released earlier. The registered owner can generally be held responsible for towing and storage costs under California’s Vehicle Code.
For Jose, the month without his car was enough.
“I regret it because I got my car no more,” he told FOX 11. “So now I got to come up here and pay for it.”
LAPD has said Operation Street Sweeper was not intended to be a one-time crackdown. After the September operation, McDonnell said the department would continue assembling similar task forces with CHP and the Sheriff’s Department when circumstances and staffing allow.