It’s all fun and games until someone gets arrested and goes to jail—or dies.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman hopes this message is received by the growing crowds that participate in illegal street takeovers that have turned dangerous and sometimes deadly on downtown streets.

“Street takeovers often lure young people looking for a thrill or to be entertained,” Hochman said at a press conference on Aug. 11. “But these reckless stunts are terrorizing our local communities, sometimes leading to death and often leading to looting, vandalism, and other crimes.”

Anyone found organizing, watching, or driving in future takeovers that illegally block streets and allow drivers to perform high-speed maneuvers can be arrested and face criminal charges as the county tries to discourage such events.

The county first witnessed a surge of takeovers during the COVID-19 pandemic, when streets were empty during the state’s lockdowns. Social media has also played a significant role promoting the events, the county reported last year.

A report issued in March by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department showed that in the last three months of 2024, the county saw a 64 percent increase in street takeovers over the previous quarter.

Damian Levitt, executive director of Streets Are For Everyone, said in March that these dangerous events have reached “crisis levels” across the county.

The most recent street takeover that blocked traffic was in front of Crypto Arena in Los Angeles on Aug. 9. Videos posted on social media show cars doing donuts around hundreds of bystanders. The crowds lit fireworks as 40–50 cars participated in the street event.

A street takeover occurs when an intersection is illegally blocked by people who are standing feet away from drivers performing dangerous maneuvers.

People who participate in these takeovers and are arrested could now face misdemeanor charges, including reckless driving, which comes with a possible 90-day jail sentence or a $1,000 fine, or both.

Participants can also be charged with speed exhibition, which comes with the same penalties.

Spectators could also face up to 190 days in jail, a $500 fine, or both.

People who injure or kill someone may face felony charges, according to Hochman.

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman speaks in Los Angeles, on Aug. 11, 2025. Hochman announced plans to hold street takeover participants accountable for participating in such illegal events. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Anyone arrested for planning to drive in, watch, or promote the street takeovers on social media could face felony conspiracy charges and state prison sentences, the district attorney announced.

Such events have killed people in Los Angeles.

In 2022, Dante Chapple Young, 30, took part in a street takeover at the intersection of Florence Avenue and Crenshaw Boulevard in South Los Angeles. He was performing donuts in his 2011 Chevy Camaro when it clipped a tow truck parked in the intersection. Young lost control and careened into a group of onlookers, striking and killing Elyzza Guajaca, 24, according to Hochman’s office.

Young pleaded no contest to one felony count each of vehicular manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon. He also admitted to fleeing the scene and causing great bodily injury to another victim. He was sentenced to 13 years in state prison.

He filmed a public service announcement as part of his plea agreement about the hazards of street takeovers.

“I never thought it could be me, honestly,” Young said in the video. “I thought everything was going to be another normal day. I went out and was doing donuts and that day kind of changed my life forever.”

He started participating in the street takeovers when he was 17, he said.

“Unfortunately, a young woman lost her life. It’s something that I deeply regret,” he said.

Lili Trujillo Puckett, founder of Street Racing Kills, speaks alongside local residents and supporters of the group during a protest on the increase in street racing takeovers in the Angelino Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles on Aug. 26, 2022. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Los Angeles County issued an action plan in 2024 to address the growing trend. County officials recommended taking several steps to prevent these illegal events by asking social media partners to remove videos of them, installing speed enforcement technology, and even building closed tracks or “skid pads” purpose-built for facilitating similar activities in a supervised and safe environment.

“Incidents of illegal street takeovers and street racing have increased in popularity nationwide, including in cities across the county,” according to Fesia Davenport, the county’s CEO.

“The crowds at these events can become unruly and engage in behavior that has resulted in property damage, looting of local businesses, bodily injuries, and loss of life,” Davenport added.

Despite the ending of lockdowns, illegal street takeovers and racing continue to persist and can be accompanied by vehicle theft, smash-and-grab robberies, hit-and-run incidents, and shootings, the county reported.

The state has also tried to reduce the number of street takeovers by passing new laws to hold participants and organizers accountable.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation in 2024 to impose stricter penalties and strengthen law enforcement’s ability to combat street takeovers.

The new laws expanded vehicle impoundment authority for law enforcement.