Officers in Grand Rapids responded to two “street takeover incidents” over the weekend and arrested an armed suspect, police said.
The incidents took place late Saturday into early Sunday. One takeover happened on Interstate 196, police said, and the other was at Stocking Avenue and 3rd Street, which is just north of Interstate 169.
“It’s possible there were others that occurred briefly before being reported and/or GRPD locating them,” said Grand Rapids Police spokesperson Jennifer Kalczuk in an email statement to The Detroit News.
An adult male was arrested at the I-196 site. Police said he had parked along the highway to watch and record the takeover, then attempted to flee on foot when police contacted him. Police have not identified the suspect by name, but said he will face charges including carrying a concealed weapon, willfully obstructing a public place and failure or refusal to obey a police order.
In recent months, Michigan communities have experienced a rise in so-called “teen takeovers” — large, loosely organized gatherings of young people that often begin as social media meetups but can escalate into property damage, fights and other disruptive or criminal behavior.
A video posted to social media on Sunday shows what appears to be a significant traffic backup on the bridge that carries I-196 over the Grand River in Grand Rapids. A few cars can be seen in front of the blockage, with drivers spinning their tires and driving recklessly.
Police declined to provide additional details.
“We have been doing a lot of proactive work this summer to prevent these types of situations, and these are the first significant incidents thus far,” Kalczuk said. “As such, we are hesitant to bring additional attention to them — we don’t want participants to get more attention for this kind of behavior and continue to escalate, where it almost becomes a challenge to make them bigger, evade police, etc.
“We will continue the proactive work and use any appropriate enforcement tactics in the event of additional incidents,” she added.
mreinhart@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Man charged in weekend ‘street takeover’ incidents in Grand Rapids
Reporting by Max Reinhart, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Max Reinhart, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
