Street “Takeover” at Larchmont and Beverly Blvd Friday Night

It happened quickly between 10:30 and 11:00 p.m. Friday night. Dozens of cars pulled up to the intersections of Larchmont Blvd. and Beverly Blvd., coming from all directions and blocking all the traffic, according to local neighbors who witnessed the street “takeover,” sometimes called a Sideshow. Soon, hundreds of people filled the sidewalks at the intersection, waiting for the first modified car to drive into the intersections and start making “donuts” in the street.

At the same time, a local resident who saw the cars and the crowds gathering called 911. The call was re-routed to a non-emergency line where they waited. By this time, the stunt driving had begun, so they hung up and called 911 again, this time with better results. Within a few minutes, an LAPD helicopter was in the air overhead shining a spotlight on the intersection. The crowd and the cars begin to quickly scatter. All but one vehicle got away. According to a witness, one primo Lexus was impounded.

As we reported in 2021,  street takeovers and street racing have been around for years, but takeovers became more frequent during pandemic when streets were less crowded with traffic. Using social media to organize participants and spectators, these well orchestrated events often feature fireworks and drones to record the action, which is posted on social media. In recent years, LAPD has made a concerted effort to monitor social media to track these events and break them up, because they can also be very dangerous.  Fatalities have been reported among bystanders when vehicles traveling 50-60 miles per hour spin out of control.

“As quickly as it showed up, it also quickly left,” was how Hancock Park resident Gabrielle Bullock, who posted the event on social media, described the takeover to the Buzz. “It only lasted about ten or fifteen minutes.”

Bullock, who lives nearby on Lucerne, told us she heard the noise of the helicopter and walked over to see what was going on.

“I’d never seen so many people gathered on the sidewalk and cars lined up on the street,” said Bullock.

We didn’t seen any noticeable skid marks on the street on Saturday morning, but another resident shared these photos of graffiti left behind after the takeover. Thanks to the alert neighbors with “eyes on the street” who took the time to share their photos and the story of the takeover with us. And thanks to the quick response of LAPD, no one was injured.