0
2
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Saturday night was a late night for some people living on Chicago's Near North Side. Video shows what appears to be an illegal street car meetup right outside their homes on the corner of Wells and Oak.
Images of the incident were posted on TikTok overnight. It runs just under a minute but gives a good idea of the chaos that unfolded.
Nearly 24 hours later remnants of those tires' marks reamined at the intersection.
"I just heard some loud noises and the engines revving and I come outside to see just the entire block closing in," said Brad Warner.
It was just after 11 p.m. Saturday when Warner says he looked out from a friend's balcony at a high rise overlooking Oak and Wells. An apparent illegal street takeover was underway at the intersection. In these takeovers pedestrians block off traffic in all directions, allowing for a car to drift in circles.
Things quickly took a dangerous turn and Warner captured the moment with his cell phone.
"There is someone standing on the side, trying to get a close-up or something and then it kind of smacked. It knocked him over and I think he got up," he said.
The takeover caused a traffic jam that lasted nearly 20 minutes, Warner said. A police cruiser responding to the scene appeared to just idle and not engage with the crowd. It left long time residents in the Near North neighborhood like Regan Burke baffled.