Drifting, drag racing and carjacking: Motorized mayhem overwhelms Chicago streets – Wirepoints

By: Matt Rosenberg

Street “takeovers” in Chicago continue, drawing hundreds to meet-ups to watch stunt driving known as “drifting.” Recently three were killed in a gang-related shooting at a drifting event in Chicago’s Brighton Park community. Criminal and violent disorder on the city’s streets encompass far more than drifting. But the Brighton Park triple homicide should be a showstopper. 

It’s a wake-up call about the unauthorized confiscation of our public ways for private purposes. Chicago’s drift into lawlessness won’t change until its political leadership takes charge of the city’s streets.

Adding to the chaos on Chicago’s public ways are drag-racers who may kill the odd spectator, and a dramatic surge in car thefts to 14,899 by October 23rd. That’s 83 percent more than last year to date and 104 percent more than in the same span of 2019. 

It gets worse still. Chicago carjackings are currently projected to total over 1,800 by year’s end. It would be triple 2019’s total and more than any year since 2001 except for last year’s 1,848 carjackings.

Reported expressway shootings in Cook County this year numbered 123 as of October 27, already almost more than double the year-end total of 51 in the last pre-Covid pre-George Floyd year of 2019. 

Chicago does a lot more in motorized mayhem than just cover the bases with street takeovers, vehicle thefts, carjackings, and expressway shootings. Chicago innovates. 

We have catalytic converter theft rings making their rounds in vehicles, protected by armed gunmen. Carjacked vehicles are deployed for armed robbery sweeps. And there’s a new dystopian twist – pedestrian kidnappings by armed robbers who snatch their victims into vehicles first. 

Due to politics, taking care of business suffers. Timid gestures have to suffice.

On drifting, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the City Council are playing small ball. They keep talking up a barely-used ordinance they approved in July. It targets “drifters” and drag racers for vehicle impoundments and fines. 

But this year through August there’d been more than 1,800 drifting incidents reported to police and only 26 vehicle impoundments. That’s a really lousy batting average considering the dozens and often hundreds of cars at each event.

It’s one more “Broken Windows” moment for Chicago. Real deterrence here would require a strong show of force and authority. 

  • There’d have to be cadres of uniformed cops in cars surrounding “drifting” events quickly. 
  • They’d likely need to impose their own roadblocks to exit routes and maybe even lay down spike strips around the events to further deter fast getaways. 
  • There’d need to be armadas of tow-trucks immediately hauling away vehicles gathered for “drifting” conclaves. 
  • A drifting crackdown would also likely require the changing of laws to grant lightning-fast city impoundment authority for vehicles at drifting or drag racing events rather than today’s cumbersome and slow bureaucratic process.

That last move could spread the hurt that comes with the $5,000 to $10,000 city fines which are supposed to accompany vehicle confiscations by the city for drifting or drag racing. The vehicle recovery fines for impoundment could be raised to $20,000.

Such remedies listed above are both essential and politically explosive. Our city’s putative leaders have already retreated so far from maintaining public order that drastic steps are required on a number of related fronts. The drifting problem stems from Chicago’s greater drift – toward enshrining dangerous havoc over broader prosperity. They can’t co-exist.

Alderman and mayoral candidate Raymond Lopez said, “what we’re seeing is the merging of this drag racing circuit with gang life. And now, those ramifications are unfolding on our streets…right now, they know that we are doing everything as passively and as weakly as possible.”

The political calculus of enabling rampant disorder.

Behind the scenes the political calculus by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Police Chief David Brown – despite their public support for police – is clearly driven by an activist culture of complaint that cripples cops and city officials. They’re leery of political witch trials for alleged “systemic racism” and “over-policing.” It’s all buttressed by a criminal courts breakdown in Cook County and recent state legislation called the SAFE-T Act that targets police and all but ends pretrial detention.

Lightfoot and Brown did the political math early on. They first abandoned the pretense of law and order in the summer of 2020. That’s when rioting, looting and a violent crime pandemic wracked Chicago after George’s Floyd’s death. That detachment, that hedging of bets, by Lightfoot and Brown continued this summer after crowds at drifting and drag-racing events repeatedly attacked police vehicles with impunity. 

A harrowing example of the city’s failure to maintain a safe atmosphere for police to do their jobs came in early July. That’s when an Illinois State Police trooper reported in a dashboard video what happened after he was blocked by a “takeover” on Division Street near I-90. 

The crowd advances on his blocked car and climbs on to stomp the hood. Suddenly the windshield is smashed. His voice riven with tension, the state trooper tells the dispatcher, “Oh! They just broke my window.” Quickly and ruefully he repeats that. 

The attack continues. It’s visible through the badly cracked windshield as the mob’s shouting grows and fireworks loudly pop. The trooper says, “150 of them, coming at me right now. They just threw a brick. Send CPD.” 

Soon the embattled trooper adds, “they’re running Chicago, toward I-90.” This is meant to tell the state patrol’s Chicago dispatcher that the mob is finally retreating. 

But he might as well have stopped at, “they’re running Chicago.” 

Because that’s what’s still going on. 

It persists three months after that attack – and more than two years since the 2020 mobs rampaging on Michigan Avenue led Lightfoot and Brown to shamefully raise the bridges over the Chicago River in a last resort to tamp down street violence.

Law enforcement remains powerless against mob action and the taking of our city’s streets. That’s because our political leaders won’t lead. They won’t set the firm tone needed. They won’t take the political heat for maintaining law and order. It threatens their longevity and their hold on power. It’s no more complicated than that. 

An Uber driver’s take on “takeovers.”

John Gurney, 52, works in finance and also drives Uber to help make ends meet. Raised in suburban Downers Grove, he lives in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood on the near Southwest Side. He’s a master’s grad of the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago. The least rich of the bunch, he likes to joke. But he sees a lot, he says, from behind the wheel driving ride-share passengers. 

The takeovers of the public way in Chicago for drifting and drag-racing concern him deeply. 

He says the city needs to be all in, to keep streets free for their intended use.

Gurney tells Wirepoints, “as much as we focus rightfully on violent crime, a basic function of any city is to keep its infrastructure running, and keeping it safe. If you drive Uber at night in Chicago you will periodically be blocked, especially in the summer months” by drag racing and drifting gatherings. 

“They take over busy streets. People just get in the middle of the intersection and they’ll watch these cars spin around, sometimes for hours.” It comes on weekend evenings which Gurney says is “prime time for entertainment in Chicago…To me it’s a sense of anarchy…It’s a complete failure.” 

Due to dense car caravans on the weekend of Mexican Independence Day in mid-September this year, Gurney saw firsthand that Chicago’s downtown “was effectively shut down and police were very slow to respond. People couldn’t get in or out. Police blocked all the busy streets just as they did in 2020 when there was all the looting….On the second night of that we were on Clinton southbound, just in the West Loop, by the train stations. And there was an ambulance with the lights flashing and trying to thread its way through this traffic that’s essentially not moving.”

He continued, “Luckily there was one officer on the sidewalk who kinda came out into the street and (was)…trying to part the seas. And I’m thinking to myself, what kind of city – and I don’t know what that person in the ambulance was there for – can you imagine you have a medical emergency and you can’t get to the hospital because Mayor Lightfoot unfortunately literally lost control of the streets?”

Deterrence, wherefore art thou?

Gurney says that for Chicago to tamp it down for good, “You need significant deterrence. You need punishment that scares them.” 

Earlier this year Gurney phoned in a report to 911 of a drifting gathering at Western and Ogden Avenue in Chicago. It had just started. Cars were coming from all directions. People were parking on the street, getting out to watch. There were just a few drifters, and many more watchers. Gurney noticed police came quickly right after he called. Later circling back, he found it had dispersed. He doesn’t know how quickly, though. It made him think about response times – which sadly have lagged even for the most violent crimes in Chicago. 

“If…you hardly get set up and get out of the car, and the first car starts spinning and the police come and you’ve got to leave, that’s actually a pretty good deterrent…they need to come in numbers because as we know from the Brighton Park incident, some of them will be gang members, probably armed. If it’s one or two police cars, they can’t possibly counteract anything.”

It’s obvious there are deeper issues at play like de-policing and the complexities of field deployment for a force that’s shrinking and growing more demoralized daily, and with good cause. But ongoing “takeovers” – and the array of serious crimes involving vehicles in Chicago – all point to the need for a commander-in-chief who can take back Chicago’s streets. 

Without that, this deeply troubled city will only slide further into the abyss.

Read more from Wirepoints:

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Richard fiorino
1 year ago

Lot of expensive vehicles and equipment involved. Beefed up drivetrains, tires & bling.
In addition to arrest and impoundment. City may want to look into where the money is coming from.

Let's GO RED in 202We2
1 year ago

We keep thinking Chicago won’t slide like Detroit, but clearly the city is getting worse, and probably way worse than is actually reported because the political parties keep it out of the news. We need to stop giving these politicians a pass and prepare for Jan 1 and the Safe-T act before it takes the decades to correct things like the hellhole they call Detroit. No more chances Illinois – this is it. Vote JB and Kwame out.

Ben
1 year ago

Reading Matt Rosenberg’s article, one has to ask, “What is the end game for the anarchy and carnage in Chicago?” Abdicating the streets to whoever has the biggest stick that evening reflects the leadership’s protracted abrogation of their constitutional duties; namely, providing its citizens a safe place in which to live and work. Where and when this all stops is anyone’s guess. No go zones may ultimately result in no go cities and no go states. As the reality of the article shines a light on how chaos reigns and proceeds unabated, we may very well see Chicago become ChiNoGo.… Read more »

Jim s
1 year ago

Sadly the City will continue to lose population and a tax base and continue it’s spiral downward. There is no trust in city government to do the right thing. Not many politicians have the spine to do the right thing and stand up for the citizens of the city.

Ellen D
1 year ago

Wondering when Mayor Lighfoot and the entire City Council going to take a stand on this? The lawlessness in the streets still prevails, and yet there appears to be no solutions or actions. I fear that the Safe-T Act will encourage more crime.

Eric79
1 year ago
Reply to  Ellen D

Why would they take a stand? The people that vote for them truly believe the cops are the trouble not the gangbangers.

Lightfoot and the rest aren’t about to shoot themselves in the foot to correct a problem, the people that vote for them, don’t believe exists.

Jeffrey Thorsen
1 year ago

The longer Chicago waits to address the lawlessness in her streets, the farther down the slope she will slide. Hopefully, Chicago is still retrievable…..

Eric79
1 year ago

Chicago is a city in decline. It won’t decline as Detroit or Cleveland, but more like Cincinnati, which was the first big city west of the appalachians in the country.

James Stramaglia
1 year ago

This is not a sustainable society. This is so unnerving that I’m at a loss for words but I just shared this on my FB newsfeed and urged followers to view it before they vote!

Con
1 year ago

Lightfoot is running a circus in Chicago. A strong city Mayor is needed to quell the violence and chaos.

Russell Whitaker
1 year ago

Grew up in the western suburbs, but always enjoyed heading into the Chitown. There was violence then, but nothing on the scale of that which the city is experiencing today. When we moved to North Dakota, people upon learning that we were from the Chicago area would tell us that they would go out of their way to avoid Chicago. I would always tell them that Chicago was a wonderful place and as long as one was wise, they would be safe. Now, I would tell them to avoid the city like the plaque. Since we moved back into the… Read more »

Pensions Paid First
1 year ago

“There was violence then, but nothing on the scale of that which the city is experiencing today.” Simply not true. The violence was worse in the late 60’s through 1974. Also, early to mid 90’s had a high murder rate as well. Since that time, violent crimes had a downward trajectory until around 2016. The pandemic made things even worse. Since the pandemic, violent crime has increased in Chicago and everywhere else. Rockford Illinois is more violent than Chicago. I’m not pleased with the direction of the violent crime rate in Chicago and other areas around the country but stop… Read more »

debtsor
1 year ago

It ain’t the pandemic that is causing higher crime. Crime rates around the world have been stable. Only in the US (and maybe Sweden) has crime increased.

Pensions Paid First
1 year ago
Reply to  debtsor

I agree it’s not the pandemic. I was referring to that more as a time frame but after re-reading I see it was express poorly. If I had to guess, I would say the George Floyd incident is more related which caused the criminal element to feel emboldened.

My point stands though. Crime has been higher in the past. Crime is higher in many other cities. The uptick in crime is not just Chicago.

debtsor
1 year ago

You’ve already lost the crime argument if you’re reaching back into the 1970’s or 1990’s for comparisons. Those were really bad times. Crime had been decreasing steadily for 30 years. To have the spike like we did that began on May 31, 2020 is totally unprecedented. This one day set the tone for the unprecedented crime wave we have now. People are really fed up because we know that when crime spikes, it seems to last for a generation. After 30 years of low crime rates, Americans don’t want to return to anything comparable to the 1990’s or 1970’s ever… Read more »

Neo
1 year ago

When talking about crime, remember that if you subtract the violence of just 5 cities (Chicago being one of them), the crime rate in the U.S. compared to the rest of the world would rank about 190th…just about the safest place on earth. Chicago is very violent, no doubt about it.

debtsor
1 year ago
Reply to  Neo

You can even break it down by neighborhood. Up until recently, the violent crime rates in Chicago’s north side neighborhoods were comparable to western europe. Three years ago, your chances of being violently assaulted or killed in Lakeview or Wicker Park was probably about the same as being mugged in Rome or Paris. But today? Far higher as crime has spread beyond the usual bad neighborhoods. The crime sprees by organized groups of criminals is shocking. They’ll violently target half a dozen people a night and never get caught.

Last edited 1 year ago by debtsor
Elizabeth
1 year ago

The Boss, Mayor Daley must be spinning in his grave. Hard to believe this is the same amazingly fantastic town that we never feared doing business in and living in for decades. You just can’t believe how quickly it went down. Shameful.Hopefully, we will elect some common sense this next round.

Eric79
1 year ago
Reply to  Elizabeth

No, the first Daley had a high crime rate and a horrific murder rate as well a fast fallin economy. Chicago was the number one manufacturing center from the late 50s to around 1975, yes even bigger than NYC, only to find by the mid 70s, it lost it middle class blue collar jobs to LA, which became the largest manufacturing center in the USA.

debtsor
1 year ago
Reply to  Elizabeth

Many cities went down after the riots during the 60’s most notably Detroit, and infamously, the Bronx, in NYC that had burnt out blocks that stayed burnt out and abandoned for decades. The resulting flight from large cities built the sprawl of the suburbs. Buffalo Grove, Schaumburg and Carol Stream wouldn’t exist but for the massive flight to newly built split levels and colonials during the late 60’s and 70’s.

Karen
1 year ago

In my view, this all begins with lazy, not very bright politicians who have bought into an ideology that doesn’t exist in the real world. Lori and Brown are busy putting lipstick on the pig, but the pig is feral, with no regard whatsoever for race, or indeed humanity.

Beth
1 year ago

“ But he might as well have stopped at, “they’re running Chicago.” Yes. The criminals are running Chicago. And, they’re running the country. Top down, bottom up…nothing but criminals in positions of power, catering to the criminals running rampant in the streets. For a number of reasons, leftists believe that by allowing, enabling and encouraging lawlessness and evil, they will be able to seize and maintain permanent power. Their constant victimization of the people living within the law is a testament to their arrogance and utter lack of accountability. 0bama called it “audacity”. He’s watching the results of his “community… Read more »

dave noel
1 year ago

Shoot To Kill !!!!

David Pearling
1 year ago

This sentence from Matt Rosenberg’s article tells the story: “But [the state trooper] might as well have [said], ‘they’re running Chicago.’”  Even though it is taken out of context, the theme is accurate: Chicago is now run by the lawless. The politicians of not only Chicago but also of Cook County have completely surrendered. They play to the criminal class and their families and friends.  They have all the political muscle they need, and the votes, to impose their idiocy on the entire state. Where are the business leaders? Do the lawbreakers represent such a large percentage of shoppers, diners,… Read more »

mollymcshane
1 year ago

Destroying Chicago so they can rebuild with their vision in mind…meanwhile people die, lives/businesses are annihilated and the American dream wiped out. Vote them all out.

Mark Meyerowitz
1 year ago

The mayor seems to have no interest in law and order. If this continues as is, it will be up to the decent law abiding citizens of Chicago to form their own security forces to patrol their streets. If the mayor and the police are unwilling to protect the citizens, then the citizens have the right, and duty, to declare the City null and void and create their own protection. I’d be willing to bet that in the papers of the founders of Chicago they wrote that protection of the people was job one.

Steve
1 year ago

Sadly, the mayor ignores vehicular crime in the same way that she ignores violent crime. Until Chicagoans tire of the incompetence and ignorance coming from city hall, the madness will continue. It’s well past time to vote the bums out! Where is Batman when we need him?

Eric79
1 year ago
Reply to  Steve

You all don’t get this, the people that vote like this. They want this, and those who dislike it, will move. They will be branded as racist for white flight and now I even see black flight (racism against Latinos).

The only way to make a strong statement is to move. When you are playing a game and the deck is stacked against you the only way to win, is you simply don’t play the game.

Donald Case
1 year ago

this is all part of their long term plan.

Erode the public’s confidence in law and order; make them uneasy in their own homes and punish them for the temerity to venture outside. The whole idea is to get them to beg for ‘federal policing’, which is the desired NWO goal.

Never forget Lightfoot is a self professed ‘New World Order’ advocate.

You must take these people for what they claim to be. Then these actions make sense…

debtsor
1 year ago
Reply to  Donald Case

Federal policing is the desired outcome but there is no long term plan. In fact, the plan is entirely short sighted. The BLM riots were, at their core, the public’s outcry for the police to stop harassing minorities, specifically black people. Just leave the black people alone, stop pulling them over for minor things like busted tail lights, or in St. Floyd’s case, passing counterfeit currency. That’s what Ferguson was about too, or that guy in NY selling single cigarettes. Defund police was their stupid slogan. AOC said that a world without police would be like the suburbs. She really… Read more »

Bob
1 year ago

When the Circus was a high form of entertainment in the Country, the Clowns were always relegated to side acts and mild entertainment until the big top could get settled. In Chicago and believe me, it pains me to say this THE CLOWNS ARE NOW IN CHARGE OF THE ENTIRE CIRCUS. This so-called Top Cop who was appointed by the Mayor is totally clueless about the ways of Chicago and its violent Gang element- It is not by accident that violent crime is thriving with little or no response from a beleaguered, demoralized, undermanned Police Department. Superintendent Brown and his… Read more »

James Watkins
1 year ago

Carjackings galore. A plethora of expressway shootings. What is this town coming to? Dangerous lawlessness.

Poor Taxpayer
1 year ago

It is a easy problem to solve. Move out of Illinois ASAP.
It is DOA.

Lin Cappozzo
1 year ago

Archer and Kedzie was the corner where I stood and waited for the bus to go to and from Downtown for many years. It saddens me to see what has happened to the area. That was my neighborhood. That’s where my parents would hold my and my siblings hands as we would travel to spend the day Downtown. The world in which now live in has me perplexed. Actions no longer matter, words now have all the power. One can’t say this is wrong without being labeled a slew of names. And those names are meant to intimidate and silence.… Read more »

debtsor
1 year ago
Reply to  Lin Cappozzo

These communities want the right to handle disputes on their own. By shooting each other. They don’t want the police getting in the way of their street justice. That’s what this is all about. They just want to shoot at each other without worrying about getting arrested. And the progressive prosecutor is totally OK with this.

Neil C
1 year ago

I doubt there are any police in Chicago who are willing to engage in a “strong show of force and authority”. These events are filled with people videoing them on their phones. Invariably, there will be provocations of the police and if they respond to the provocations then edited videos will be used to go after the police. The politicians will not back up the police in these situations anymore… in fact they will lead the charge. An alternative way to go after this is to get plain clothes police to video the events as much as possible. Figure out… Read more »

Josh
1 year ago

It is stunning how quickly Chicago has lost control of its streets. I had no idea the situation was so bad until I read this piece. If this is not fixed quickly Chicago’s descent will only accelerate. Thanks for shedding light on this important issue.

Bill Vourthis
1 year ago

Speaking as someone who lives in SF…I see cops are slow rolling every call now in the cities that defunded the police. A cop in sf was being prosecuted for murder under budin…for putting down a violent perp with multiple warnings.

Pat Cardoni
1 year ago

Good article Matt.

Chicago’s continuing acceptance of street crime and violence as a cost of “equity” is undermining the economic health of both city and state. Capital investors read these reports of what is happening. They are avoiding lending our money (retirement funds) to projects in the city as we have negative press every week.

No investment equals greater economic disparity.

Libertarian and conservatives remain unrepresented with a snowballs chance of ever being heard or elected.

Keep up the good work.

debtsor
1 year ago
Reply to  Pat Cardoni

Increased crime is the cost of equity. But it’s also about letting the community handle its disputes internally. By shooting at each other. Our progressive leaders have decided that it’s better to let criminals and bystanders die in shootouts than to put them in jail and suffer through a systemically racist criminal justice system.

Beth Dill
1 year ago

By the fact that Lori Lightfoot just gave herself a raise tells me that she knows she won’t be re-elected. She wants to jack her pension up while she can. We have about 10 days to see if the voters are willing to vote for the change that is so badly needed.

Karen Bushy
1 year ago
Reply to  Beth Dill

As beyond irritating as I find Lori Lightfoot to be, facts are important. She did not, nor can she raise her own salary. Illinois state statute requires that the salary for an elected official be fixed 90 days before an election which puts that particular person into a specific office. With the mayoral election coming up, if Lori wants a raise in her next term, it has to be passed now by the City Council, to take effect after the upcoming election. The mayor, the president of a village, an alderman or a village trustee or council member – no… Read more »

Jack
1 year ago

Yet another stunning example of just how out of control Chiraq has become

Armand Daniel Ciabattari
1 year ago

Hopefully, the midterms will begin a tipping point. You have done a complete deep dive into the problem. Ultimately, it is up to the electorate in Chicago. Will they see a cause and effect relationship by continuing to support the democrat machine that continues to plunge the city into further lawlessness? No such commander-in-chief will emerge unless Chicago Way is abandoned.

Tom J
1 year ago

Part of the bigger plan to have people out of cars and only using public transportation.

state_pension_millionaires
1 year ago

Excellent article, with lots of facts that Ms. Lightfoot; Preckwinkle; Foxx; and Pritzker, Raoul, and Evans …etc, would prefer not mentioned.

IL/Chicago politicians are “breaking their promises” (as Ms. Precwinkle likes to use the term) to the people of IL and should be recalled/fired immediately. Total descending chaos, corruption and political malfeasance, and thats why Illinois/Chicago is at the bottom of almost ALL metrics regarding is fiscal and societal well-being. A real mess.

Recommend vote against any incumbent, regardless of party, till someone starts to fix this.

Bill Edley
1 year ago

It’s a statewide problem. We’ve observed street racing in Springfield. Driving to the grocery store isn’t a boring safe journey.

Jerald L Dyson
1 year ago

Sadly, just one more example of the deterioration of Chicago. It is a downward spiral, and the politicians don’t seem to care, or don’t have the guts to put citizens rights ahead of law breakers.

Jay
1 year ago

Here’s the problem. For so many residents of Chicago, they can’t just up & leave. Either for financial reasons or–and this aspect really hasn’t been delved into–the sense of community that is hard-wired into Chicagoans.

Say what you want about the dysfunction currently threatening our well-being, but the locals are good people, open people, friendly people, have been here for at least 2-3 generations, and WANT to stay. They don’t want to go elsewhere. To stay is to accept the probability of physical attack or worse rises exponentially.

Riverbender
1 year ago
Reply to  Jay

Perhaps many of them should go vote for a change

Dan Hill
1 year ago

The City of Chicago is setting itself up for the biggest depopulation event since the 1950s. It will be left with residents who can’t pay the bill, abandoned buildings and broken glass. A downward spiral easily gains momentum. The suburbs have already acquired a long list of urban amenities in the last decade.

Riverbender
1 year ago
Reply to  Dan Hill

As the population declines the Government proposes more entitlement programs and practically empty schools are never closed.

Old Joe
1 year ago

I can verify that Detroit is Johnny on the Spot for parking violations. Especially anywhere downtown. It’s called a profit center in business school. You might call it a racket. Parking violations in neighborhoods can exist for months without a ticket.

However, if you’re getting jacked, robbed, raped, or murdered there won’t be a cop in sight.

Old Joe
1 year ago
Reply to  Old Joe

I forgot to mention the selective parking enforcement combined with zero consequences from criminal activity “reinforces” the resolve of many Detroit suburbanites to never set foot in the City of Detroit.

Old Joe
1 year ago
Reply to  Old Joe

Many of them dread even having to drive thru Detroit.

Old Joe
1 year ago
Reply to  Old Joe

It really is that bad…

Old Joe
1 year ago
Reply to  Old Joe

My biggest fear is when I have to visit relatives in Ontario but have to drive thru Detroit without my metal American Express card.

Old Joe
1 year ago
Reply to  Old Joe

I’ve been lucky so far…..

John Hartness
1 year ago

Park on a snow route in the city overnight after December 1st, your car is gone. Take over an intersection in the middle of the night turning donuts, welcome! This is Lightfoot’s Chicago.

Steve H
1 year ago

Come on Matt, these mostly nonwhite drivers cannot afford $20,000 to bail out their cars, how will they be able to get to work? What you suggest here is racist! Besides, isn’t Chicago essentially encouraging the same thing with NASCAR in the loop this summer? Shame, shame
Do I sound like a Progressive 😅

Kathryn Edley
1 year ago
Reply to  Steve H

The thing is these drivers are often found with thousands of dollars in their cars or found scrambling to hide it. They can afford it.

Henrty Hatch
1 year ago

These things seem to take place at intersections. Come on CPD use your smarts Identify one of the streets as an entry point for CPD before responding. Set up other units with spike strips on the three exits from the drift intersection. On command, CPD enters intersection with lights and sirens while blocking units deploy spike strips. They will be a lot easier to catch running on flat tires.

Hunter's Lap Dance
1 year ago

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