Greensboro police crack down on street takeovers

GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — The Greensboro Police Department said it’s stepping up its effort to crack down on illegal street takeovers.

It’s an issue Greensboro Police Officer Jason Strickland has seen too many times.

“We’ve seen citizens get hit by the vehicles … Another thing people don’t understand is the property damage involved in it. Just even a simple burnout. You’re leaving skid marks in business parking lots, and they have to clean that stuff up,” Strickland said.

Greensboro Police Officer Michael Hoag said skid marks at a business off Tolar Drive were what’s left of one of the many street takeovers that have taken place recently.

“There’s a couple spots in Greensboro that are kind of a frequent flyer area. I know Battleground always has issues. That’s the district areas that I work in. I have seen the Battleground areas. We have the Walmarts and Targets and Big Lots,” Hoag said.

In December, a law to make street takeovers illegal in North Carolina went into effect. Since then, the GPD said they’ve responded to close to 10 reports of takeovers in the city.

“It’s a disregard for human life … There’s some videos that it does become dangerous, and we just want to prevent that. Obviously, we can’t be everywhere,” Hoag said.

To catch those responsible for street takeovers, investigators have had to rely on other avenues to find them taking place.

“We can go on the backend. We can look at surveillance cameras on buildings. We can go through traffic cameras. We can go through social media pages,” Hoag said.

Greensboro police made it known in a Facebook post that social media is exactly how they found and charged a driver who took part in a street takeover.

Investigators would not provide times and dates or how many people have been hurt from street takeovers in Greensboro, but they did share the consequences you’ll face if you decide to participate

“With street takeovers, it is a misdemeanor offense the first time. If you do the second offense and every offense after, it becomes a felony … Once it becomes a felony, after 30 days, when we do seize it, you have to pay twice the value of the car to get it back,” Hoag said.

If you see street takeovers in your area, you’re encouraged to contact Greensboro Crimestoppers at (336) 373-1000. You can leave a tip anonymously.