RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — The Richmond Police Department is cracking down on dangerous activities that can sometimes stop traffic.
The Richmond Police Department said in a Facebook post that, around 10 p.m. on Saturday night, officers from the third precinct dispersed a car meetup at Stony Point Fashion Park, where some people were driving recklessly.
The department used the Metro Aviation Unit to track down those who were driving recklessly and officers intervened, leading to three people receiving citations. Police said about 60 cars gathered on the mall’s property as part of the meetup.
Roger Eidelman, who lives across from the mall, said he’s glad police took action to keep the neighborhood safe.
“Nobody needs a bunch of hot-rodding. We live next to Chippenham Parkway and there are enough accidents day-by-day that we certainly don’t need added trouble that would cause accidents,” he said.
This isn’t the first time Richmond Police have cracked down on an unauthorized car meet. In February, Richmond Police arrested a car club member after he allegedly hit an officer with his car on the Lee Bridge. Police said hundreds of people were “engaged in dangerous, unlawful activity.”
About a year earlier, Richmond police and several other law enforcement agencies worked together to crack down on an attempted “car club takeover” event. About 300 people were expected to come in from out of town to do burnouts, doughnuts and block intersections all over the city.
Eidelman said he’s surprised this latest round of dangerous driving happened so close to home.
“It’s a close-knit community and we talk regularly, so I’m glad that they have taken action,” he said.
