The west end Toronto suburb of Brampton is home of many weekly car meets. But it seems that local police are fed up with unruly gatherings at Trinity Common Mall which (allegedly) include dangerous displays of speed, public drinking, excessive noise, and even fireworks.
Apparently police have been cracking down on the plaza, concerned for the safety of residents and businesses. The rowdy get-togethers have resulted in police laying hundreds of HTA charges, making several arrests and even impounding vehicles. Yet the gearhead’s desire for a fun place to cut loose on weekends means the disruptive meets have continued.
At a recent Friday night, officers arrived at the spot and found a white Dodge Challenger ‘sliding’ through the parking lot. Typical. When the cops attempted to stop the 21-year-old hooligan, he burned rubber out of there. But these weren’t rookie cops! They boxed in the driver who, undeterred, took off on foot. One assumed the kid was going to run home, pretend to be asleep, and then act surprised that his car had been stolen when the cops banged on his door. After a brief foot chase, the cops caught the bad guy.
The young criminal is facing a slew of charges including race a motor vehicle, obstruct plate, public nuisance and flight from peace officer. His driver’s license was suspended, his vehicle impounded, and he’s completely burned the spot. The media is decrying ‘unsanctioned car rallies‘ again.
“This is not a space for parties, car meets, fireworks, racing, drinking and driving or any behaviour that creates a hazard or disruption to the residents. If you’re not on the property for legitimate reasons, unable to behave or conduct yourself appropriately, if you don’t have authorization to be here then you’re not welcome. Residents and businesses are fed up, so are we.”
– Police Constable Tyler Bell-Morena
The whole situation is just a sad commentary on life in Toronto. Gearheads want a place to hang out, show off their rides, and rev their engines to show off a little. But those 21-year-olds in Dodge Challengers just overdo it. Conversely, donut munching police officers probably did donuts in parking lots as teenagers now take too aggressive a stance against all meet ups, just because of a few bad apples. One group is unreasonable and the other is intolerant.
It’s sad that younger drivers can’t respect the rules and old Cogger’s wearing a uniform rule the night. Too bad a vacant mall lot or something like it couldn’t be used with regulations.
I read about a city councilor in California who wanted to regulate the Cali car scene, by using foot ball stadium parking lots for these kinds of meets. Avoids vehicular hooligans from disturbing residential areas or taking over public roads.
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That makes too much sense for anyone in Toronto city council to ever consider. So the adversarial relationship between cops are car guys continues.
Sad, just sad.
At least there are some ‘events’ on the calendar that allow car crazy kids to have fun without trouble. But the madness jn Brampton certainly does not endear the car community to the cops or citizens in the area.