Los Angeles police broke up one of the largest street takeovers the city has seen this year overnight Friday into Saturday, converging on a crowd of more than 700 people gathered at South Figueroa Street and West Alondra Boulevard in the Harbor Gateway area. The operation, which LAPD had branded “Operation Street Sweeper,” ended with nearly 70 arrests, roughly 200 vehicles impounded, and 570 citations issued to spectators.
How the operation came together
LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said the department had used intelligence gathering and drone surveillance in the days before the operation to identify four separate locations where takeovers were expected to form, then moved once the gathering at Figueroa and Alondra grew into the largest of the night. More than 150 officers, drawn from LAPD along with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol, surrounded the intersection around 2 a.m. Saturday.
A chaotic scene as officers moved in
Residents near the intersection described a frantic scramble as police closed in. Ring camera footage captured people climbing fences and cutting through yards to get away from the intersection, and some spectators’ vehicles collided with each other as drivers tried to flee the scene. One neighbor said the commotion was loud enough that she thought an explosion had gone off nearby.
Of the 66 people arrested for participating in or aiding the takeover, three additional arrests came for assault on an officer, battery, and obstruction. Officers also recovered seven firearms and a quantity of nitrous oxide canisters at the scene. Among the 570 citations, 442 were issued to spectators for watching an illegal speed contest and 128 went to juveniles for violating the city’s 10 p.m. curfew, including an 11-year-old.
One event, not two
The Figueroa and Alondra gathering is the same incident that’s been described elsewhere as the “Harbor Gateway street takeover,” not a separate scene from the same night. The intersection sits inside the Harbor Gateway neighborhood, and the arrest, citation, and impound totals reported across outlets all trace back to this single operation rather than two distinct busts.
What LAPD says comes next
McDonnell told reporters the operation was “only the beginning” of a more aggressive posture toward street takeovers, which have drawn complaints from residents across South Los Angeles for years as loud, dangerous gatherings that block streets and, at times, trap bystanders. Saturday’s operation was among the largest single enforcement actions LAPD has mounted against the practice.
