SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Dangerous driving and a confrontation with police during an unofficial car gathering in Clairemont were caught on camera.
On Oct. 5, a late-evening meetup involving dozens of car enthusiasts occurred in the parking lot of a strip mall in the 5500 block of Balboa Avenue. It was at the event where a witness captured instances of drivers performing tricks with their vehicles and almost hitting people in the crowd.
The person who captured the video told 10News things escalated when a San Diego police officer arrived at the scene.
“The officer got out and this whole crowd circled them and rushed them, pretty much … they didn't like that he pulled over a kid apparently, and they were just telling him to get out of here,” the witness said.
Another person who attended the event added, “People were throwing trash at him, there was a lot of middle fingers that were thrown up. I heard a lot of profanity going on about the cop and telling him to ‘let him go’ to let him be free, but I don't think that was going to happen. I thought the cop was going to get attacked.”
Similar car gatherings are typically organized on social media, and many enthusiasts said incidents like the one in Clairemont don’t help the hobby’s reputation.
“It’s important to know this is a family-safe event and we don’t want the community to think that we’re all bad people,” the witness said.
The other attendee said, “I’ve been to multiple meets where we go there, park, we go and get some food and support local businesses, and then we look at some nice cars. But then there’s meets like this that get out of hand and cause a horrible image for us.”
10News reached out to San Diego police for comment, but they did not say if any arrests were made in this incident.
