Richmond officer injured while shutting down ‘sideshow’

A Richmond police officer was wounded early Sunday morning while breaking up an illegal sideshow, according to the department.

Police were called to the area of Marina Bay Parkway and Regatta Boulevard in Richmond at 1:20 a.m. Sunday and found between 40 and 50 cars in the area, police said in a press release. When officers tried to cite some of the drivers for vehicle code violations, a black sedan accelerated toward them. The sedan struck an officer, pushing him onto the hood and windshield of another car.

The sedan took off southbound on Marina Bay Parkway, leaving the officer with broken bones, cuts to his head and road rash, the press release said. He is recovering in the hospital. He’s been with the department eight years.

There is no suspect description, but police impounded several cars from the sideshow and are interviewing witnesses.

Popularized in the East Bay in the 1990s, sideshows are informal car stunt demonstrations and often involve dozens, or even hundreds, of vehicles. In November, three illegal sideshows popped up in the Sacramento area in one weekend, including one with an estimated 500 cars and 1,000 people.

In another incident that weekend, cars were spinning in circles across Highway 50, bringing traffic to a stop. Later that month, a person was arrested outside of Stockton after an illegal sideshow involving 300 cars.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Richmond Police’s Traffic Unit Sgt. Pomeroy at (510) 621-1578.

This story was originally published January 28, 2018 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Richmond officer injured while shutting down ‘sideshow’."