An investigative follow-through relating to a so-called street takeover incident on May 11 in Highland during which a mob attacked a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputy and vandalized his patrol vehicle led to the arrest of 56 people who had gathered for a similar event in Adelanto on June 1.
Shortly after midnight on Saturday, May 11, 2024, a deputy from the Highland Station was enroute to a call when he encountered a large gathering of people and vehicles at the intersection of Highland Avenue and Victoria Avenue.
A crowd estimated at around 100 people both inside and outside their vehicles surrounded the intersection, according to the sheriff’s depart, and a nearby fire hydrant had been opened to create a layer of water along the surface of the intersection into which the drivers could gun their vehicles and then lock up their brakes to “drift.”
The deputy stopped at a red light at the intersection when he came upon the scene, and was about to make an attempt to interrupt the activity, referred to by participants in such activity as a “street takeover,” by disbursing the crowd. Before he could do that, however, his patrol car was surrounded by a throng of takeover participants who began kicking and punching the vehicle.
A significant degree of damage was done to the sheriff’s unit, including the shattering of its windshield and vandalism to the vehicle’s body panels.
At one point, the door of the patrol car was opened, it seemed, by a member of the crowd, though in the clearest video of the incident, because of the crowding around the car, it is not whether the deputy sought to open the door or one particular individual standing next to the vehicle who could briefly be seen reaching for the external door handle opened the door. The deputy at that point drove away from the crowd.
Detectives from the department who examined the available video footage taken at the intersection and other evidence were able to make identifications of several of the participants in the street takeover and determine that they were members of or affiliated with car clubs in the High Desert area. The investigators were able to identify an individual they referred to as “the primary suspect,” that being the young man or teenager believed to have attempted to open the car door in an effort “to overtake the deputy and his patrol unit.” That individual, according to the department, was a 15-year-old resident of Menifee in Riverside County.
An arrest warrant for the 15-year-old was prepared and signed by a San Bernardino County Superior Court Judge and then served at the juvenile’s home around 6:30 a.m. on May 23, at which point he was taken into custody and booked into the San Bernardino County Juvenile Hall on felony vandalism and attempted carjacking charges. In the days thereafter, deputies, detectives and sergeants assigned to the department’s Operation Consequences enforcement effort worked in connection with the San Bernardino County Auto Theft Task Force, a multi-agency stolen vehicle recovery unit known by its acronym SANCATT, together with deputies and detectives in the sheriff’s gangs/narcotics division, the Victorville Station, the Victor Valley Station, the Hesperia Station and the Apple Valley Station traced out who were involved in the street takeover phenomenon, determining that they were related to car clubs in the High Desert area.
An Investigation into the High Desert car clubs showed they were involved in multiple similar street takeovers and sideshows, with their members having posted videos on social media showing sideshow events performed in stolen vehicles. The participants openly displayed firearms as they performed a sideshow on private property in Adelanto. As a result of the investigation, several search warrants were served in the city of Victorville. The search warrants yielded stolen firearms and a stolen Dodge Hellcat.
On June 1, 2024, an Operation Consequences deployment involving personnel from the Victorville Station, Victor Valley Station, Hesperia Station, Apple Valley Station, Sheriff’s Gangs/Narcotics Division, and SANCATT was made at an abandoned property in Adelanto where members of High Desert car clubs had converged and were performeing sideshow maneuvers on that private property without the consent of its owners. Investigators and deputies detained participants and spectators as they fled from the location, collaring 7 adults and 19 juveniles. The arrested adults were taken to the High Desert Detention Center and, after being processed, were cited and released from the facility. The juveniles were taken to the Victorville City Sheriff’s Station and issued a citation and then released to their families. Additionally, 23 vehicles were towed, and a stolen Chevrolet Camaro was located.
“This type of recklessness won’t be tolerated in San Bernardino County,” said Sheriff Shannon Dicus. “Arrests will be assured, and cars will be impounded if these street-takeovers continue.”