By admin 
GARDENA, Calif. (KABC) — Repeated street takeovers in an unincorporated area of Gardena have sparked growing concern among neighbors, who say the gatherings are dangerous and becoming more frequent.
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Neighbors said the gatherings of cars and motorcycles have become a common occurrence.
“Safety is our biggest concern,” said one resident who did not want to be identified. “The number of people that show up to these events, it’s over 500 people on a given day.”
A second resident who did not want to be identified said the incidents appear to be increasing.
“It’s getting worse, because it’s more consistent,” the second resident said. “They would do it once, and then have a period where they wouldn’t, but now it’s back-to-back.”
The takeovers occur along a stretch of Main Street near 154th Street in a largely commercial area that also includes a small pocket of homes that get cut off when takeovers fill the streets.
Residents said the gatherings can block access to neighborhoods, particularly streets that end in cul-de-sacs.
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“A lot of that community has cul-de-sacs, so they’re dead-end streets, and if the paramedics can’t get in for an emergency, somebody could die,” the first resident said.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly Mitchell, whose district includes the area, said she is working with the county’s street takeover task force to address the problem.
“They wouldn’t want their own family members, their grandmother to be at risk of trying to access her own house,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said L.A. County has doubled fines for people who participate in street takeovers. The L.A. County Sheriff’s Department said eight vehicles were towed last weekend.
Some residents said they want a stronger response from authorities.
“I just wish they would care more, because we’ve tried to call in the past, and they never show, or they just don’t think it’s worth it, because it’s such a big group of people,” the second resident said. “But I think that’s why it’s even more important, because it is such a big group of people, that means it’s so much more dangerous.”
Mitchell said she has asked the Sheriff’s Department to increase enforcement in the area, particularly during the upcoming holiday weekend.
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