Shocking moment drivers shut down Philly street for illegal stunts

Reckless drivers shut down a busy intersection in South Philadelphia to perform dangerous, illegal stunts in yet another street takeover plaguing the City of Brotherly Love.

Cell phone footage captured the moment a group of cars were performing donuts harrowingly close to spectators Saturday at 2:30 a.m. at the intersection of Broad Street and Washington Avenue.

The pedestrians could be seen running to dodge the circling vehicles, while others stood in the middle of the swerving cars, appearing to record the fast-pace action.

At one point, a person could even be seen hanging out of one of the cars as it performed a high-speed donut on the intersection.

“And the scariest part in one of the videos I took was a green car that did so many doughnuts that went out of control and almost went over towards Target,” Rhonda Walker told CBS News of the street takeover she recorded from her condo. “And the whole crowd was just like, pushed away.”

Walker said she was awoken by the screeching tires and looked out to see “hundreds of kids” blocking the intersection and sticking dangerously close to the cars.

Walker added that officers at the scene had trouble breaking up the crowd and trying to stop the cars circling around them.

The tire marks from Saturday’s incident were still visible the following day, and it wasn’t the first time the intersection had been shut down due to street takeovers.

The same busy roads had been closed off back in April, Walker told CBS, with similar incidents reported around the city throughout the year.

Philadelphia police have yet to list any arrests in relation to Saturday’s incident.

Street takeovers have become an increasing problem in large cities across the nation in recent years, with wannabe stunt drivers performing dangerous tricks with their vehicles in the middle of the road.

Last month, a truck driver ran over a group of pedestrians while fleeing from an officer who caught him performing donuts in the middle of a busy Atlanta intersection.

While the popularity of such stunts soared during the pandemic when few drivers were out and about, the takeovers continue to persist, particularly in Los Angeles, where officials have been tracking such incidents.

The Los Angeles Police Department reported there were 7,654 such takeovers in 2021, and about 4,899 in 2022. The statistics for 2023 have yet to be made available.