CHARLOTTE — New documents obtained by Channel 9 this week outline the battle that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department had with participants of street takeovers, culminating in a back-and-forth that resulted in a new law at the state level.
Between late 2022 and early 2023, Channel 9 covered at least four street takeovers in Charlotte. In March of 2023, we filed a request with CMPD trying to get an inside look at how the department was responding to keep people safe.
Three years later, CMPD sent us more than 100 pages of emails and internal documents.
Channel 9’s Hunter Sáenz pored through them to get a clearer picture of officers’ work behind the scenes.
Drivers were doing donuts and burnouts that often brought intersections to a startling and dangerous halt.
“It sounded like I was at the Charlotte Motor Speedway,” one witness told Channel 9 several years ago.
Organized street stunts were taking place across the city, and sometimes they led to people getting shot.
“Pretty much just havoc everywhere,” described another witness.
We’ve spoken to many eyewitnesses, drivers, and neighbors over the years worried sick about the late-night stunts.
“[I saw] 75 to 100 cars, like I couldn’t even see the traffic anymore like how far it stretched back,” a witness said.
At times, police broke up the takeovers and made arrests. But new internal CMPD emails show CMPD was working to fight the takeovers.
Emails containing criminal intelligence were redacted, but in February of 2023, a CMPD lieutenant was blunt in an email to top brass.
“Our organization, the city and county are facing a problem with prearranged street racing and street takeovers,” the lieutenant said.
A “street racing taskforce schedule” was made with a “rotation of officers and supervisors” the department could “call upon to assist” with a “preplanned street takeover.”
One email told officers, “Don’t be sitting in that spot waiting on them to show up, but be in the surrounding area.”
And once the department learned of repeat offenders, that information would be sent “out to the divisions so they can focus on these individuals throughout the week.”
CMPD still has street takeover operations. We’ve been told they aren’t as big of a problem as they used to be, but they do still happen.
The department also credited a 2023 state law with helping bring those numbers down. The law allows police to charge a driver with a misdemeanor and fine them. There are also stricter penalties for repeat offenders.
(VIDEO: Arrest made in Pineville street takeover shooting)
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