BRISTOL, Conn. — A dangerous trend police said is happening across the country hit the streets of Bristol.
A "street takeover" is when illegal street racers block off roads to make room for cars to perform stunts and where large groups of people can gather to watch.
Friday night, one of the "street takeovers" happened at the intersection of Farmington Avenue and Stafford Avenue. Bristol police received reports of hundreds of cars blocking the area off and a large group of people gathering around to watch.
"That was quite crazy," said Leslie McHugh, a resident of Bristol. "I couldn't believe that they were holding up traffic and were doing what they were doing."
Residents said it's the first time they've ever seen something of that scale.
"It's very surprising because I've lived in this town all my life and I never saw anything like that. Especially around here," said Daniel Dimattia.
"That was really dumbfounding when I found out that that happened there," said Shirley Delaney.
However, some residents said they've noticed similar things happening more often.
"Besides what happened here, there's been a lot of incidents where they're drag racing. Even on my own road, cause I live right down the road," McHugh said.
Bristol police said incidents like this not only put the people performing the stunts in danger but also everyone else around them. Safety is why residents hope the "street takeover" doesn't happen again.
"I think it's horrible they don't think and stop about what they're doing and if a car was coming down another person would get hurt," Delaney said.
"Someone getting hurt – getting in an accident... someone could be walking across the street," Dimattia said.
Police said they have been able to identify some of the cars in the video thanks to surveillance video from nearby businesses.
Investigators ask anyone who may have video of the incident or information to contact them. Video can be sent to Ofc. Monica Finkle at monicafinkle@bristolct,gov.
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