Officers responded around 1 a.m. to the area of N. Grand Boulevard and W. Florissant in St. Louis after receiving several reports of a street takeover, along with reports of shots fired. Police said roughly 100 vehicles were tied up in the chaotic scene, and a group of men threw fireworks directly at an officer as police moved in to break it up.
According to First Alert 4, SWAT deployed spike strips on more than 50 vehicles as the takeover unraveled. Many drivers fled the scene once officers arrived, and the men who had thrown fireworks at the officer also ran, but one of them didn't get far.
Police caught and arrested 22-year-old Alexander Strenger of Omaha, Nebraska. The report states Strenger was charged with stunt driving for participating in a street takeover and with unlawful assembly.
A Pattern Playing Out Across St. Louis
This isn't an isolated headache for St. Louis police. The department has dealt with a string of similar incidents, including one in the St. Louis Hills neighborhood where nine adults were taken into custody near Wilmore Park, as FOX 2 reported. Police said that gathering had been promoted online beforehand, with posts discussing illegal activity, fireworks, and the possibility of violence against any officers who showed up.
During that same Wilmore Park operation, officers seized nine vehicles and two guns, one of which had been fitted with a sear switch that made it fully automatic, per the same report. Four juveniles were also taken to the city's reunification center as part of that response.
Injuries and Damage in Other Takeovers
Street takeovers have also left people hurt elsewhere in the city. In the Bevo neighborhood near Morgan Ford Road and Gravois Avenue, a woman was seriously injured after being thrown from a vehicle that crashed during a takeover; police said her injuries did not appear life-threatening, and the activity itself lasted only about 15 to 20 minutes, the station noted. FOX 2 also reported that multiple street takeovers across the city in a single stretch led to nearly 200 tires damaged by police spike strips.
A separate takeover in March at the intersection of Gravois and Morgan Ford, detailed by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, turned dangerous when a woman hanging out of a moving vehicle was ejected and suffered multiple non-life-threatening injuries. During that same incident, a crowd surrounded a marked patrol SUV, preventing officers inside from reaching the scene.
Charges Following Months Later
Enforcement from these gatherings doesn't always end the same night. A fourth person was recently charged in connection with a September street takeover in the city's Bevo Mill neighborhood, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. That case involved someone filmed kicking a burning Kia SUV during the takeover, who now faces criminal charges stemming from that night.
