Neighbors say street takeovers are common occurrence at intersection where spectators were hit

Neighbors living in the San Fernando Valley neighborhood of North Hills say street takeovers happen almost monthly at the intersection where two young people were hit and seriously injured by a car doing donuts Sunday. The latest takeover at Plummer Street and Haskell Avenue left two people hospitalized after a drifting car knocked one person unconscious and caused the other person to suffer a severely broken leg. The horrific crash, which happened in front of a crowd of spectators, was captured on video. The footage is too gruesome to show the unedited version in KTLA's newscasts. The driver fled the scene after the crash, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. The hit-and-run remains under investigation. The takeovers continue to happen despite constant complaints to police, neighbors say. A resident near the intersection told KTLA that the takeovers start after the group blocks off the busy intersection, located next to the Sepulveda VA Medical Center. “What they do is they start closing up the street and a lot of cars come and start parking along the sides,” one neighbor told KTLA. “I don’t know how they notify each other. But then, next thing you know, a few minutes later, you hear the tires screeching.” Councilman for the Los Angeles City Council’s 12th District John Lee told KTLA’s Angeli Kakade that the city is working with the LAPD to fix the problem. One solution, he said, is to give more funding to LAPD’s Street Racing Task Force. In the meantime, neighbors say they’re afraid to leave their homes. “We are fearing to go outside,” one neighbor said. “We call the law and we keep inside.” Watch Angeli Kakade's full report in the video at the top of this story.