Street takeovers drop across LA County, but deputies say the trend isn't going away

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]On many Sunday nights, they converge on Southern California intersections, spinning up noisy, dangerous chaos for other drivers. We're talking about reckless street takeovers that have surged since the pandemic, terrorizing LA streets. LA County crafted a plan to try and crack down on them, but is it working? I would this news investigative reporter Kevin Ozebek took a ride with deputies to find out for 7 on your side investigates.

[00:00:26]>> The high-speed donuts and near collisions are taking over the streets.

[00:00:31]They can turn into explosive illegal shows >> [screaming] >> All right. Yeah, that's Yeah, no, I'm out.

[00:00:40]>> that are dangerous, to say the least.

[00:00:43]>> They can lose control, hit people, hit businesses.

[00:00:46]>> Deputy David Murray is our guide as he takes us along during his overnight Sunday shift in Compton. He's part of a special operations team tasked with stopping street takeovers.

[00:00:57]>> How big have you seen some of these?

[00:01:00]>> Uh upwards of 500 vehicles.

[00:01:03]>> In just one takeover?

[00:01:04]>> In just one takeover.

[00:01:05]>> We see the team target this white car.

[00:01:08]>> They're seen leaving one of the street uh takeovers that were taking place on Long Beach and Rosecrans.

[00:01:12]>> So, deputies have now pulled over this white car you see right there behind me.

[00:01:16]Deputies say once they pulled it over, they realized the driver didn't have a license and also the registration for that car is expired.

[00:01:25]>> So, everyone in the car is ordered out and the car is towed away. About 30 minutes later, around 1:00 a.m.

[00:01:34]Deputy Murray and his team rush to an intersection after a call comes in a street takeover is starting to form.

[00:01:41]>> [screaming] >> They swarm the street with lights and sirens blaring and scare off anyone who came here looking to do donuts or more.

[00:01:52]>> What all have you guys kind of seen as a spin-off of these?

[00:01:55]>> Uh any anything from uh, vandalism, uh, assaults, shootings.

[00:01:59]>> Captain Victor Puebla leads the LA County Sheriff's Department Compton Station. His deputies have logged 113 street takeovers in the past 6 months.

[00:02:10]That's a 58% drop from the same period last year when his team responded to well over 200 takeovers. Across the entire area the Sheriff's Department serves, street takeovers are trending down 56%.

[00:02:26]>> Although we've made progress with these street takeover events, it still remains a significant public safety issue and uh, we have a lot of work to do.

[00:02:33]>> And it's not just the extra patrols that are helping to crack down on this.

[00:02:37]Throughout Compton and throughout many parts of LA County, these raised bumpers are being installed right in the middle of intersections and essentially they prevent cars from doing donuts. And that's because intersections with no bumpers are instead scarred with skid marks from these takeovers. So, Deputy Murray's late-night patrols continue for now. Kevin O's back, ABC 7 Eyewitness News.