INDIANAPOLIS — Over the weekend, multiple IMPD patrol vehicles were damaged and officers were attacked across the city as they responded to street racing events.
According to IMPD, the issues began at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday in the area of E. Washington Street and Pine Street.
Officers conducted a traffic stop in the area where they noticed approximately 100-200 vehicles involved in spinning — with a large crowd around them.
At this location, a group of men began throwing road cones and signs at the patrol vehicles.
At the same time, a man standing near the Hardee's restaurant at 921 E. Washington Street began firing shots in the air in near the officers arriving at the scene.
Issues continued at the intersection of Brookville Road and Arlington Avenue at 4 a.m. on Sunday.
At this location 30-40 cars were blocking the area. A black SUV nearly struck a patrol vehicle at this location. That driver was later stopped in the 300 block of N. Webster and taken into custody.
The issues continued into the night Sunday and morning on Sunday.
This time on the city's west side, officers from IMPD and ISP were called to a reckless driver report.
In the 3400 block of Lafayette Road, officers and troopers had rocks, fireworks, fire extinguishers and bottles thrown at them.
On Monday morning, twice within an hour officers were forced to break up more spinning events in the area of 7000 English Avenue.
Here, officers cars were struck by baseball bats, molotov cocktails and more.
“The actions we saw this weekend against IMPD officers and Indiana State Troopers is unacceptable. Our officers responded to calls regarding street takeovers and spinning and in doing so, they were met with violence and their vehicles were attacked. Let me be clear—we will not tolerate any behavior that puts officer safety or the safety of our community at risk. We will continue to investigate these incidents thoroughly and hold those responsible accountable for their actions,” said Chief Chris Bailey.
