Police attacked during illegal street racing, ring of fire in Center City, Philadelphia

Police were attacked and their vehicles damaged over the weekend as officers worked to disperse large crowds that had gathered at multiple illegal car meetups and street races at locations throughout Philadelphia, Pennsylvania late Saturday into early Sunday.

Police responded to the first at 9:30 pm Saturday night on the 7400 block of Bustleton Ave, where around 50 cars were involved, according to NBC 10. Nine citations were issued under the nuisance car ordinance and 15 citations were issued to spectators.

One driver in that incident attempted to evade police by driving toward officers, resulting in the driver colliding with a civilian vehicle. Officials said that a warrant has been issued for that driver’s arrest.

Police responded at 11:47 pm to the intersection of 20th Street and Pattison Ave, where over 100 vehicles were reportedly drifting and engaging in reckless driving. Two people were arrested after fleeing from police and crashing into a pole.

At 3:30 am, a 38th District officer received minor injuries in the 3300 block of Fox Street while responding to an assistance call after his vehicle was struck by another car fleeing the scene.

At 4 am, police responded to a group of over 200 cars at the intersection of Island and Bartram Avenues, where the drivers were involved in drag racing and drifting. At this incident, officers were attacked and a police vehicle damaged, police said. The crowd eventually dispersed after additional police units arrived.

Just over half an hour later, at 4:33 am, police responded to the area of 15th and Market streets, which is directly in front of City Hall, where more than 100 cars were reported drifting and setting trash on fire. Officials said that officers were also attacked in this incident and multiple vehicles were also damaged.

Police officials said that a total of five police vehicles were damaged overnight, including broken windshields and flattened tires. Officials said there was a total of 11 illegal street racing incidents that police responded to overnight. At one intersection, a ring of fire was seen being set to the pavement.

Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Mike Kram said, "A few of them were obviously a little more violent. They attacked officers. Threw various things at them. Shot off fireworks." He added that at least one person involved in the incidents overnight had a flamethrower.

Deputy Commissioner Francis Healy said in a Sunday press conference, "This behavior will not be tolerated. We firmly believe that the actions last night were in retaliation of the police department’s aggressive actions that we’ve been taking since Mayor Parker’s administration began.”

Ahead of next weekend, the Philadelphia Police Department announced that it will be assigning "dozens of officers to address these illegal gatherings."