On Tuesday, the Antioch City Council agreed to direct staff to work on a city ordinance prohibiting sideshow spectators in an effort to reduce reckless driving exhibitions and street racing.
Although no formal vote was taken, the council had consensus to at least move the ordinance forward by directing staff to bring back a proposed ordinance at a future meeting. This item was brought up last year, but has sat idle.
It appears Antioch will utilize sideshow spectator ordinance by the City of Pittsburg, City of Oakland and City of San Jose as a guide— it seeks to hold sideshow spectators accountable and prohibit them from being within 200 feet of sideshow or speed racing events. The Antioch Police Department would have discretion in determining who is a spectator.
Per the Staff Report:
Implementing a sideshow and street racing organizer and by-stander ordinance (“Ordinance”) would substantially broaden the scope of individuals held legally accountable for sideshows and street races beyond the drivers participating in the event. A sideshow and street racing organizer and by-stander ordinance would prohibit promotion of, preparation for, participation in, and attendance as a spectator at sideshows or street races.
The Ordinance would discourage organizing and being a spectator at illegal sideshows or street races by providing proper notice of unlawful activities to citizens, addressing a clear, identifiable, and limited population, and holding individuals accountable for promoting, preparing, participating in, and being a by-stander at sideshows.
The Ordinance could rely on evidence of past sideshows or street races to identify patterns of violations. An Ordinance could require evidence that includes preparation for any sideshow or street race, such as when a person has arrived at a predetermined location on a public street, highway, or in an off-street parking facility, and have interfered with the free use of a public street, highway, or off-street parking facility. Interference with the free use of a public street include acts, or physical barriers, or lining up vehicles on a public street.
The Ordinance could also require that the person charged has previously aided and abetted sideshow or street race, previously attended a sideshow or street race, or has previously been present at a location where preparations were being made for a sideshow or street race, or where a sideshow or street race event was in progress. Such a provision would narrow the focus of law enforcement and allow the City to focus on those most involved in creating these events while protecting those persons who may have coincidentally and innocently been found to be in the location of a sideshow or street racing event. Moreover, evidence that a person has been at a prior sideshow would strengthen the case for citing a participant.
After public comments, the City Council took up the issue with Thorpe stating whether or not they would “basically be criminalizing spectating”.
Mayor Pro Tem Tamisha Torres-Walker agreed with public commenter Lindsey Amezcua who stated there were already traffic laws that needed to be enforced while suggesting a place for people to actually do sideshows.
“There has been proactive efforts in the past that have reduced large scale sideshows, even a partnership with a business that also tried to help get people off the street,” stated Torres-Walker. “How do we use the natural environment to slow people down because the only traffic concern in this city are not large sideshows. What people mostly experience, which I experience daily, are spin outs. Spin outs are not large scale sideshows with 100-200 people, spin outs are one vehicle in the middle of a street trying to figure out if they can control a car and it is scary and dangerous but not 100 people. That is the daily experience for a majority of residents.”
Torres-Walker was more concerned about the daily spin outs and what they will do to prevent that.
“Even passing a policy that will penalize a potential spectator giving the authority to someone in law enforcement to decide who is a spectator and who is not, when we can’t even trust them, some, not all, to do their current job without bias. I just don’t know if this is the right direction to go,” stated Torres-Walker who wanted to address the spin-outs.
Councilmember Mike Barbanica said in District 2 they now have a weekly occurrence where people park 50-100 cars on Summersville Road and take over the road and two weeks ago they destroyed city signage, debris left in the roadway which took city workers nearly 2-hours to cleanup.
“Lets not fool ourselves, most of this is coming from people coming outside the city into the city creating the issues and then leaving our city. It’s not Antioch residents we are talking about here,” explained Barbanica. “I am not really interested as Antioch taxpayers, why don’t we develop a site for out of town people coming into our city and creating havoc and saying thanks for not tearing up our city streets.”
Barbanica shared that a local business tried that, it resulted in roving sideshows throughout East County and a shooting in Pittsburg.
“We can debate all night long we should have a location in town where people can go and they can do this, but then what happens after and why are our taxpayers here paying for outside influences to come into our community and we have to provide them a spot to do this, that is ludicrous “ explained Barbanica.
He also stated police officers are people and are paid all day to make judgement calls but its also why there is a court system after the fact to determine if this person violated the law—its not cuffing people and putting them in a patrol vehicle, but rather issuing a citation which is a municipal code.
Again, Barbanica suggested it was a ludicrous idea to invite people from outside the community to come into Antioch at a dedicated location and instead was all for the ordinance.
Councilmember Lori Ogorchock stated she was in favor of the sideshow spectators ordinance saying many residents have reached out to her after these sideshows saying they feared for their lives after being stuck in the middle of them.
“There are too many people who are upset over these incidents. Our officers do go to some of them, you can’t contain them so there is a safety issue. I’ve seen the donuts, I video taped one the other day at 6:30 am and there was three kids in the car and the car door was open with one kid leaning out the door,” stated Ogorchock. “I think it is a safety issue and I would like to see this going forward.”
Councilmember Monica Wilson agreed she saw more burnouts than sideshows. She said they needed some type of ordinance but this needed more work because this felt like “cat and mouse”.
“I think this needs a lot of work but I am in agreement with some of this stuff but the bystander ordinance gives me great pause,” stated Wilson.
Torres-Walker thanked Ogorchock for showing what a spectator was by filming the incident she saw. She also took issue with the statement “all of these people are not from Antioch” saying that was not a true narrative.
“Yes, some of them, but if it’s in your city, you are probably the one who organized it,” stated Torres-Walker. “You know the route, you know the site, when it could happen, that doesn’t happen by someone outside a city, that is organized by people who live in a city and know how to navigate the city because when these events breakup, how do people know what streets to down when they are leaving the events.”
She also took issue with sideshows being a “race issue” because many more people who attend these events probably look like Councilmember Barbanica and Councilmember Ogorchock.
“How do you put resources and education, prevention and how do we use resources we have now and can we discuss the burnouts because I am pretty sure a handful of my neighbors do donuts right before they park in their driveway. Its not a large scale sideshow, that is what people are experiencing on a daily basis,” stated Torres-Walker.
Mayor Lamar Thorpe said tonight they were talking about the sideshow ordinance and they can bring back the discussion for burnouts another night because they are a nuisance for everyone in the community.
“On the actual discussion of the ordinance, I am for this because its obvious where these large-scale sideshows happen. I am for prevention, which we have done a great job on prevention, but our traffic division was decimated,” stated Thorpe. “There have been places that have hosted sideshows and they have been pretty successful. We did have the one incident where they did leave and ended up on Cavallo and other locations. To me, that is prevention and creating a space. I wish the fairgrounds would get more involved with the race track but that is not our jurisdiction.”
Thorpe said he was fine with the ordinance and was fine with the sideshow spectators component because the police department does a good job using cameras.
“In fact, we had a parent call stating she thought they mistakenly gave her child a citation and the police department said no problem they will look into it. They found out not only was he participating but he was one of the guys clobbering the patrol car by the Wells Fargo. Not only was he in trouble for that, but he was criminally in trouble for vandalizing public property,” explained Thorpe who added the cameras help the city.
He was in favor of having all components available to deal with the issue of large-scale sideshows.
The council confirmed they were not voting on the ordinance itself, but rather shaping a future ordinance. Staff was provided with direction and will bring back the ordinance at a future date.
Thorpe stated at the next meeting, he will bring back an item so they can discuss burnouts and donuts within the City of Antioch.
Stories on Sideshows and Sideshow Spectators:
- Oct 21, 2023 – Antioch Set to Talk Sideshow Ordinance
- Sept. 28, 2023: Antioch Police Pressed on if Aid from CHP or Sheriff is Needed
- Sept. 25, 2023: Antioch Police Say 1 Arrested After Weekend Sideshow Activity
- Aug 9, 2023: Antioch Mayor Claims Sideshows and Crime is Down
- Aug 7, 2023: Santa Rosa suing 13 sideshow organizers $25K each for pollution violations (ABC7)
- Aug 6, 2023: Antioch Sideshow Damages Water Main, Vehicle Also Enters Delta Waters
- July 5, 2023: Updated: Hundreds Gather for Fourth of July Sideshow in Antioch
- May 12, 2023: Pico Rivera Passes Street Takeover Ordinance Allowing for Permanent Seizure of Cars
- Jan 25, 2023: Criminal Investigation Leads to 7 Arrests of Sideshow Organizers and Promoters
- Jan 12, 2023: Antioch Police Tow 2 Vehicles, 1 Citation in Latest Sideshow Response
- Dec 27, 2022: CHP Highlights New Laws in 2023
- Dec 14, 2022: Brentwood Police Chief Comments on Recent Sideshow Activity
- Sept 23, 2022: Bill to Crack Down on Street Racing and Illegal Sideshows Signed by Governor
- May 16, 2022: Antioch Mayor Says Council Will Take Up Policy to Target Sideshow Spectators
- May 15, 2022: Antioch Police Respond to Two Sideshows, Officers Vehicles Attacked
- May 3, 2022: Pittsburg City Council Agrees to Fine Sideshow and Street Racing Spectators
- April 14, 2022: Oakley Police Say Vehicle Attacked in Response to Sideshow Event, Firearm Recovered
11 comments
Why in the world would anyone think that setting aside a space for people to go and be lawless is a good idea? Keep giving in to criminal conduct and see how your quality of life continues to suffer. And forget about safety. What an asinine idea. Good grief!
Hello there anonymous. It’s no longer lawless if there’s a legal place to do it. Just because you don’t enjoy the activity doesn’t mean others can’t or shouldn’t. Not everyone enjoys driving cars in circles or hitting a tiny ball into a cup on grass and yet Antioch has both a raceway and a golf course for those that do enjoys such things. I don’t partake in any of the 3 aforementioned activities but don’t feel my personal lack of participation should preclude others from their own leisure. 99 Speedway and Sonoma Raceway both have drift events. It drives revenue to the city and creates safe places.
I invite you to debate with civility. Take care
No one with working brain cells find side shows enjoyable. They’re disruptive, noisy, lawless and don’t get a pass just because people have nothing better to do than drive in circles spinning tires. Anything doesn’t go in a civilized society and neither should recklessness and all the subsequent lawless behavior that accompanies the nonsense.
You clearly missed the invitation to be civil with your response or in your debate. The irony is that you’re attempting to discuss your definition of a civilized society when you yourself are clearly unwilling to participate in civility. Your only argument is that you don’t enjoy the activity and thus seem to believe your will should be exerted into others. A legalized location would not be disruptive as the event is contained, wouldn’t be any more noisy than the races already happening, and it wouldn’t be lawless if it’s permitted. Do you fight this hard against football? Or boxing? Or mixed martial arts? Many call those activities are “reckless” as well.
Your feelings don’t get to dictate law and I’ve yet to hear a valid argument as to why a legal location will harm our city.
It appears you’re embarrassed by your own comments or fear repercussions as you still hide behind a fake name. I again invite you to engage will civility.
I’m not “attempting to discuss” anything with you. You tagged me with your point of view. The law is clear, yet participants and attendees of sideshows choose to continually, willingly disrespect the law and every citizen in society for their own selfish desires. Destroying public property, disrupting neighborhoods, holding up traffic, acting out on the freeways and bridges should now be rewarded with designated space to engage in the behavior? Oh please! Have you not witnessed the type of crowds sideshows draw? Who’s going to provide security for the venue? The surrounding neighborhoods, freeways for these gatherings before, during and after the event? Or haven’t you heard that Antioch PD, CHP and police departments in other juridictions are inadequately staffed to respond to calls? You’re just the type who wants to legalize everything just because people want to do it. It’s ridiculous in every way, doesn’t serve the public interest at all and need to be squashed. Furthermore, I am a law abiding, taxpaying, homeowner, entitled to my opinion which is what I posted and stand by it whether you know my name or not. Society has enough ills to contend with and doesn’t need to add to them fall out from side show activity to pacify the few who don’t seem to know what to do with themselves. My recommendation? Try doing something productive.
I agree. My sons went to an event in Sac last month and had fun. All the cars had to be registered and insured and there was a fee to participate in the event. It was safe and legal and nobody got hurt or killed. Guys like to burn rubber, do donuts, drift, and show off their cars. I don’t like the illegal side shows, there is no resemblance of what they once were, but I am in support of a legal venue.
Antioch truly ran by buffoons!
The City Council Clown Show continues….
So, the city decides to provide a venue for sideshows. Has anyone considered what ramifications or legal responsibility the city would incur if someone gets injured or worse? Doubtful. If this is something the city thinks is a good idea then it should be TOTALLY funded and operated by a private venture. Let someone else take responsibility for this foolish idea. The council should never expose the taxpayers to potential liability.
They sure can call on those cameras when they need to find out who damaged a police car, a street sign or other city property but they can’t be bothered to check the cameras or do any type of investigation to find out who killed my boyfriend in a hit and run 6 months ago! 6 months, multiple phone calls and emails to numerous members of APD and not one word in response. Unreal. Their priorities are certainly in order.
The tail continues to wag the dog. Meanwhile the taxpayer picks up the bill for others to play or steal or whatever else is on the criminal menu!
This is why we can’t have nice things.
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