- Police responded to an overnight car meet-up and locked over 100 cars into a parking lot.
- Authorities detained everyone to check for stolen cars and matched plates to VIN numbers.
- The incident raised questions when police dodged inquiries about arrests and ticketing.
California police don’t always have the best reputation for being tough on crime, but they just pulled off a tactic we’ve never seen before. During a late-night meet-up for car enthusiasts and cruisers, officers encountered a group of vehicles parked in a fenced-in lot. What did they do next? They locked everyone in and proceeded to inspect every single car.
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According to police, this was indeed a sideshow, even though it wasn’t taking place on a public road. San Francisco Police tell Carscoops, “On 05/11/2025 at approximately 2330 hours, San Francisco Police officers responded to the area of 3rd and King Street regarding vehicles engaged in illegal sideshow activities. Upon arrival on scene, officers observed the activity had moved to the area of Pier 30, where more than 200 vehicles were engaged in a sideshow.”
Read: New California Laws In 2025 Target Speeding, Street Takeovers, And More
The spokesperson added that, “officers made several announcements for subjects to disperse, however, many refused to comply with the orders. Officers developed a plan and successfully flushed the vehicles from the Pier after detaining each vehicle to conduct a records check.” That coincides with what evidence we have from those at the meet-up.
Video from the scene shows an officer addressing the crowd: “The gates will open. Line your cars up. You’re not going to be able to go anywhere. They’ll be patrol cars on your right. There’s going to be patrol cars on your left. There are going to be spikes lined up so if you choose to take off guess what’s going to happen… your tires going to get flat. You’re going to come through, we’re going to run your plate. We’re going to check the plates to match the VIN. If everything matches up, guess what yall get to do? Yall get to bounce,” he says.
Attendees Tell A Different Story
According to one account with video from the scene, “this was not a takeover event, it was a cruise that started in Redwood City and went around the entire Bay ending back to Hayward.” This same person says that when they arrived at the parking lot, some cars were already in it, and the gates were open. Once police arrived, they shut the gates and detained everyone until they could check for warrants and stolen cars.
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Police Dodge Hard Questions
It’s worth noting that there are no current reports we could find of any serious consequences here, so we pressed the SFPD for more info. Specifically, we asked if they arrested anyone, issued any tickets or warnings, or found anything illegal during the incident.
It ignored these questions in its response but instead said that “No subjects were detained during the incident.” We’re not lawyers, but according to Cornell Law School, “In criminal law, to detain an individual is to hold them in custody, normally for a temporary period of time.” If that’s not what police did, then what exactly is locking people up in a parking lot? Unlawful detention is a Fourth Amendment violation, so we’re not talking about some tiny thing here.
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Furthermore, SFPD ignored our question about what sideshow activities it witnessed. After all, if all police saw was a car meet with cars neatly parked together, then in theory, the most it could do would be to issue parking tickets, it would seem. It’s worth noting that in the video below, it’s clear that some cars were doing donuts in a large open parking lot.
Whether it’s the same lot is unclear. What is clear is that it isn’t the typical street takeover scene we’ve come to know all too well. These cars are in a wide-open lot. There aren’t pedestrians by the cars either. And it’s important to note that officers need to see violations to enforce laws. They can’t simply assume or go on a third-party accounting of an action.
Finally, the department ignored an inquiry about its legal right, in theory or practice, to enforce laws about sideshows on public roads when something like this takes place on private property. It did say that it impounded one vehicle but wouldn’t provide details as to what led to that very specific action. Normally, when a department makes a big bust like this, it’s happy to share details. This one though, has us scratching our heads.