Los Angeles police are stepping up arrests at increasingly unruly street takeovers as officers work to rein in a problem that continues to spill onto city streets.
Between Jan. 1 and July 11, the LAPD made 249 arrests tied to the chaotic gatherings, including 11 felony arrests, Los Angeles Police Department Capt. Mike Bland told The Post exclusively.
“These felonies were largely as a result of violence that occurred,” Bland said. “These takeovers are crime scenes.”
The pace of arrests so far this year suggests the department could surpass its 2025 total, when officers made 292 arrests during the full year, including 24 felony collars.
Bland said many of those drawn to the illegal street takeovers are teenagers, noting that the activity tends to surge during the summer months, when temperatures rise and schools are closed.
Over the weekend, two separate street takeovers in the San Fernando Valley ended with serious consequences for young people in the area, Bland said.
On Sunday night near Plummer Street and Haskell Avenue in North Hills, two spectators were badly hurt when a car plowed into them. Dramatic video from the scene showed a black sedan spinning before slamming into the pair.
Roughly 4 miles away, at Parthenia Street and Wilbur Avenue in Northridge, another takeover crash injured spectators the same night. Disturbing footage showed a white vehicle barreling into the crowd, hitting pedestrians and a cyclist.
Police are investigating both incidents, with the North Hills collision being probed as a hit-and-run.
In a move meant to intensify the fight against these illegal events, the LAPD last month shifted its anti-takeover efforts away from a central office and into the department’s regional traffic divisions.
The change was made because LAPD officials believe the department can better prevent takeovers by bringing enforcement to the neighborhoods where they occur, Bland said.
Takeovers happen all over the city, but are especially concentrated in the Valley, South LA and downtown, where Mayor Karen Bass in March ordered more patrols after a wild takeover mob stormed a luxury apartment complex.
Organized on social media and often occurring with little notice, the illegal gatherings draw hundreds of cars and gain momentum in the summer months.
Many participants are members of street gangs, while others belong to car clubs that have ventured into criminal enterprise. Cops say the gangs and clubs engage in car theft, human trafficking, gun running, drug dealing and smuggling.
Some of the car clubs employ a hierarchy like that of motorcycle gangs, with dues-paying members from different chapters in different states. Many come from towns along the Interstate 10 freeway, in the corridor running from Los Angeles to New Orleans.
Cops track the takeovers by monitoring activity on social media. Police use drones and helicopters to identify the people and vehicles involved, especially in cases where crowds are thick.
Gunplay is also common at takeovers. In 2025, cops seized 18 firearms at the events. Early last Monday morning, a spectator at a takeover in Boyle Heights was shot twice by a gunman who remains at large.
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell warned against the gatherings.
“They attract gang members, stolen vehicles, gunfire, and reckless driving,” McDonnell said in a video posted online Monday. “Innocent people have been shot, seriously injured, and killed.”
