UNION CITY — Two sideshows have taken place at the same intersection of Mission Boulevard in the past two weeks, and an officer who discovered one of them had his patrol car’s rear window broken out Sunday night, according to Union City police.
Sgt. Freddy Camacho said in an interview Wednesday the officer was turning onto Mission at the intersection of Whipple Road around 9:30 p.m. on April 1, and found himself in the middle of a large sideshow involving dozens of vehicles and bystanders.
“He turned right into it, and I don’t think he realized at first what was going on, and then all of the sudden his car was surrounded by all the people that were onlooking from the sidewalks,” Camacho said.
Camacho said the people around the car began beating and kicking it on the passenger side, and though it is not clear how it happened, the rear window of the vehicle was smashed out as well.
The officer drove away and called for backup, but the dozens of people and vehicles there quickly scattered, Camacho said.
Around 4 a.m. March 25, Union City police were alerted there was a sideshow group headed south on Mission from Hayward, and a person also called in a report of gunfire heard in the area of the Mission and Whipple, Camacho said.
Union City officers intercepted the group of roughly 30 cars at Whipple and Mission, and they all disbursed when police arrived.
One officer pursued a car that was fleeing, and arrested a 22-year-old Stockton man for evading police, but no gun was located, Camacho said.
The police department had posted on social media about sideshows in the city on Tuesday alerting people about the recent events. Camacho said the department wants to warn residents to avoid engaging with people taking part in sideshows if they encounter them on the roads.
He said people who are blocked on roads by sideshows should try to leave the area and report it to police instead of getting out of their cars and confronting participants.
While street racing meetups have occurred in different areas of Union City for years, sideshows are rare, Camacho said.
“I hope it’s not a new trend,” he said.
In a Facebook posting about the sideshows, Camacho wrote that officers “don’t just wipe the dust off our uniforms and wave goodbye when these sideshows drive away. All leads are investigated.”
Camacho said there are several leads in the April 1 sideshow, including video from bystanders, and and the department is investigating.