Three individuals have been arrested in Austin, Texas, following their alleged involvement in a so-called "street takeover" event that occurred last week. Aiden Rojas, 20, Jonas Gonzales, 19, and 17-year-old Lukas Castro face misdemeanor charges after a series of stunts involving up to a hundred vehicles that endangered public safety and disrupted traffic, according to an affidavit, as reported by KXAN.
The Austin Police Department became aware of the gathering on Dec. 8 when hundreds of cars crowded the Home Depot parking lot on North Interstate Highway 35 Service Road southbound. The trio was eventually charged with engaging in organized criminal activity after they were pressured out of the lot by management and subsequently caused chaos at various locations across the city, as per court documents. Making the night worse, emergency services were swamped with more than 400 calls related to the hazardous undertaking, according to KXAN.
During the event, the street marauders spun through intersections, with vehicles blocking off roads for others to perform donuts, an action captured and directed by Gonzales via his Instagram, as per CBS Austin.
The Texas legislature, under Governor Greg Abbott's signatory authority, recently enacted two bills to clamp down on illegal street racing and takeovers. House Bills 1442 and 2899 strive to provide law enforcement with additional tools to quell such disturbances, in accord with KXAN.
