GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Grand Rapids Police are continuing to battle 'Street Takeovers' as the dangerous meetups continue to pop up around Grand Rapids.
According to officials, a street takeover is when groups illegally take over an intersection- often performing high-speed donuts and burnouts with large crowds.
These pop-up events, often organized on social media, have few safety measures in place, leading to a dangerous environment for both drivers and spectators.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom announced expanded efforts to combat street takeovers in 2023. This year Winstrom said that though the number of takeovers are down, his department is continuing to push back.
"We've seen violence associated with the street, with the street takeovers as much as a homicide here in the city of Grand Rapids, so something we take very seriously," Winstrom said.
Since many of these takeovers pop up with little warning and disband quickly when police arrive, Winstrom said it is difficult to police the activity.
"You have to get creative," Winstrom said. "One of the things we do, we focus very easy for us to write a parking ticket on a vehicle... it's something that people don't think is, you know, that dramatic. It's not the same as putting in handcuffs and taking you to jail, but it certainly has a way of changing future behavior."
Most takeovers perform reckless maneuvers very close to pedestrians. Winstrom said that, on top of blocking roadways, makes it even more important to break up.
"When you take that and put it in a place where it's actually obstructing vehicular traffic, sometimes vital vehicular traffic, where you're talking about police cars, fire trucks and ambulances, it becomes all the more serious," Winstrom said. "Preventing violence is one of our primary goals, and addressing these street takeovers goes hand in hand with that. So we will be out looking for these groups."
On Sunday, a takeover popped up just feet from Turnstiles Bar at the intersection of Stockton Ave. and 2nd street. According to Rob Schellenberg, the assistant general manager of Turnstiles, this is the fifth in that location to date.
"It's anarchy," Schellenberg said. "This is a virus that is affecting everyone in the car community."
Schellenberg said when he was growing up, he was able to see burnouts and donuts in a controlled environment at the racing track or car meets. Now, after the growth of takeovers, Schellenberg said attendees are in much more danger.
"You have a location that hasn't been prepped. You have a location that doesn't have barriers. You have people running out into these pretty much a race, and you're gonna get hurt," Schellenberg said. "Even though they're going sideways, they're going 40-50, miles an hour sideways. And you see it all the time on Instagram, reels and everything, people getting run over, people getting hit by the back of the car."
Further, Schellenberg said, takeovers can become dangerous for not just the people involved, but everyone in the area.
"Stocking is the main artery for the GRPD, the fire department, the ambulances. So when you're doing it on a public street, especially a major artery for a neighborhood, you're, you're affecting neighbors, you're affecting businesses. You're affecting, you know, the entire community," Schellenberg said.
Schellenberg said he is heavily involved in Grand Rapids car culture- labeling Turnstiles as a car-friendly establishment. According to him, Turnstiles Bar hosts weekly car meetups with live music and vendors.
With takeovers becoming more common in Grand Rapids, however, Schellenberg said it's becoming harder to host these events, as many members of the public correlate his events to the street takeover epidemic.
"I'm just appalled at the fact that street takeovers are happening in Grand Rapids. It's real sad," Schellenberg said. "It's hurting the car community throughout West Michigan.
"Car meets are just there to help build the community of the car scene, where people get to know each other. We talk about our passions," Schellenberg added. "Some of the neighborhood associations think that we are, you know, we're allowing this to happen, which is not the case at all. I mean, yeah, we are car friendly here at turnstiles, but it's well organized. It's people that actually do things legally."
Schellenberg said he's glad the Grand Rapids Police Department is pushing for more enforcement against takeovers. Schellenberg said there are better ways to be excited about cars- in safe, legal environments.
"It's a testosterone thing, with people trying to show off, trying to get Instagram likes, but they're not realizing the best way to get Instagram likes is you go to these actual organized events," Schellenberg added. "I bet you're going to get a lot more likes doing that than spinning your car in a circle and almost killing somebody or hurting my business."
►Make it easy to keep up to date with more stories like this. Download the 13 ON YOUR SIDE app now.
Have a news tip? Email news@13onyourside.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Watch 13 ON YOUR SIDE for free on Roku, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV and on your phone.
