HICKORY, N.C. — Hickory Police Department officers arrested more than half a dozen people, including a teenager, while enforcing North Carolina’s new street takeover law. The crackdown was caught on camera.
Police focused along Highway 70, which for decades has been a popular spot for cruising on the weekends. Police say they aren’t concerned about those drivers, but instead, they are focused on street takeover events.
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A viewer shared video with Faherty of police going after the driver of a white pickup truck spinning its wheels in a parking lot along Highway 70. Police towed that truck to a storage lot and the driver was charged under the new state law.
This week, Faherty went to that impound lot. Several of the other vehicles that have been seized are also being stored there.
Police told Faherty they have seen street takeovers even in downtown Hickory. Faherty spotted tire marks still on the ground Thursday.
“These type of activities are very, very dangerous to the motoring public,” Deputy Chief Bryan Adams said.
Adams said drivers are going too far to get attention and putting others in danger just about every weekend along Highway 70.
“Drifting and burnouts and wheelies, and it’s going out on roadways and in parking lots,” Adams said. “It’s very dangerous to the people involved and the motoring public.”
Sheriff’s deputies say if a person is convicted of the misdemeanor charge, their vehicles can be sold at a public auction. They can also be fined $1,000.
Investigators said people who organize street takeover events can also face charges.
The mother of one teenage driver who was arrested said he was accused of a burnout at the Valley Hills Mall parking lot. She believes the new law goes too far.
“He was told that the judge can in fact seize his vehicle,” she told Faherty. “Our lawyer did get the vehicle back after a $1,000 fee that we had to pay. And, of course, that doesn’t include the lawyer fees and the court cost. And we still don’t know if he’ll lose his license.”
Police said the vast majority of people doing this are not teenagers, but instead between the ages of 20 to 28 years old.
Officers plan to be back out patrolling Highway 70 this weekend.
(WATCH BELOW: Law implementing stiffer penalties for street takeovers takes effect)
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