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Drag racers turn Philadelphia into a hellscape with dangerous stunts, violence against police: ‘They had a flamethrower’

By
Alex Oliveira
Published Sep. 23, 2024, 5:15 p.m. ET

Hundreds of dangerous drag racers terrorized the streets of Philadelphia over the weekend, setting off fireworks, vandalizing vehicles and even charging at cops trying to rein in the chaos.

There were at least 11 illegal meetups across the city between 9:30 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. Saturday night, according to the Philadelphia Police Department — with each drawing between 50 and 200 cars and crowds of even more people.

Ample footage from terrified bystanders showed cars doing donuts at intersections set ablaze, cheering people standing close at hand and leaping out of the way of cars and flames, fireworks exploding overhead and amongst the crowds, and cars engaging in high-speed drag-racing in the heart of the city.

Spectators leap out of a bonfire they set in the middle of a street
Spectators leap out of a bonfire they set in the middle of a street FOX 29

At one meet-up, hooligans even brought a flame-thrower, police said, while in several instances cars attempting to flee drove directly at police officers — in one incident striking an innocent bystander.

At least five police cars were damaged in the chaos, and one officer was injured, according to FOX 29.

“There’s officers in the car, they’re jumping on the windshield. They’re physically doing damage,” PPD Deputy Commissioner Mike Cram said. “They don’t care about your safety, their own safety.”

“If you’ve all seen the videos with their behavior, they really don’t care. It’s just about how much chaos can we cause?” he added.

Police believe the weekend’s chaos was an organized retaliation against the city’s recent efforts to crack down on drag racing, and that it was coordinated on social media by the same groups of people who have staged recent meet-ups.

Cars were filmed drifting in circles dangerously close to spectators, who often ran for cover
Cars were filmed drifting in circles dangerously close to spectators, who often ran for cover NBC 10

“It’s playing whack-a-mole. That’s the best way to describe it. We hit them in one location, they move to another very quickly,” Cram said.

Several arrests were made during the chaotic night, but police vowed that more are imminent as part of their crackdown that will involve officers monitoring social media to head-off future meet-ups.

“We have your picture. We’re coming for you. Do you think you got away last night?” said Deputy Commissioner Francis Healy. “We’re coming with search warrants, and we’re coming with arrest warrants.”

Hundreds of people and cars descended on 11 different locations across the city Saturday night into Sunday morning
Hundreds of people and cars descended on 11 different locations across the city Saturday night into Sunday morning NBC 10

Many residents of the streets where the chaos broke out were baffled by the behavior.

“It makes me scared for the people who attend. I don’t know how they aren’t scared themselves that one of them are going to get hurt, or die eventually from the dangerous activities that go on,” Philadelphia Trae Jordan told FOX 11.

Adi Kamugisha, a mother to a young baby, said she felt trapped as a bonfire burned on the street outside her home and rowdy crowds jeered among racing cars.

“You can’t get out because it’s happening right in front of your house,” she said.