AUSTIN, Texas — Austin police are working to crack down on illegal street racing after several incidents popped up across different parts of the city over the weekend. Hundreds of people gathered for meetups known as "takeovers" on city roads.
Following the takeovers, one officer was hurt and two people were arrested. Now, law enforcement officials are calling on state lawmakers and leaders to do something about it and are reminding people the dangers of these takeovers.
"I saw the tire marks and that it was people just peeling out and doing donuts and I guess – I guess – street racing," said Mike Macintyre, a neighbor in the Barton Springs Road and South Lamar area.
Macintyre lives near one of four spots where these takeovers happened.
"I wasn't entirely sure. I thought it was maybe a car crash or a fire, because there was a lot of police cars, so you could see all the lights from afar," said Macintyre.
On Monday, Austin Mayor Kirk Watson released a statement saying Austin 911 was overwhelmed on Saturday, getting four times as many calls as it normally does. APD said it took officers 22 minutes to get to the first scene because there were no units in the area.
Former Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said takeovers like this can be deadly.
"A lot of them go sideways, a lot of people get injured, a lot of people get killed and people get shot," said Acevedo.
After police responded, you can see the crowd turn toward an officer and shoot fireworks at a patrol car in one of the many witness videos that has been released from the night.
"If I were that deputy, I would have accelerated out of there because my life would have been in danger," said Acevedo.
Acevedo also said as other cities across Texas deal with takeovers like these, he would like to see Gov. Greg Abbott and the State do more.
"While he focuses on the border, our big cities across the state of Texas are suffering from public safety challenges that quite honestly would be well served if the State itself, spending billions of dollars on the border, would give some of that funding to the local agencies across across Texas," said Acevedo.