Just showing up to a street takeover in Prince George’s County, Maryland, could land you in jail, and leave your wallet sitting on empty.
More than 40 street takeovers have happened in Prince George’s County already this year, according to police. The county council passed a bill Tuesday with some of the strongest civil fines they can levy on anyone who simply attends one.
The 10-0 vote includes penalties of $1,000 and up to two months in jail the first time you鈥檙e caught even hanging out at a takeover. The penalties increase with subsequent violations.
“This is not, you know, I didn’t cut my grass penalty,” said Council member Wanika Fisher, who sponsored the bill.
The action comes just over a week after a Virginia man was shot and killed attending a takeover at a parking garage in Howard County, Maryland. While state law currently allows police to only charge those caught driving at such an event, Prince George鈥檚 County police said simply showing up to one of these takeovers can lead to trouble.
鈥淚t’s typically not the drivers that get hurt,鈥� said Maj. David Hansen with Prince George’s County police. 鈥淚t’s everyone that’s standing around, and it’s the vehicles that hit the bystanders or the participants. It’s the guns that are brought to these events, and people just start randomly shooting.”
He said it was a stray bullet that killed 26-year-old John Phipps at a shopping center in District Heights in 2024. More recently, a woman from Indiana was taking pictures of a takeover when she was struck and seriously injured.
鈥淎 car did a doughnut and hit her and broke almost every bone in her body,鈥� said police spokesman Brian Fischer. 鈥淪he was airlifted out, but she will never, ever recover to the point of where she was before the car meetup.鈥�
While state lawmakers have tried to clamp down on these events, they continue throughout the region, prompting Prince George鈥檚 County to be the first jurisdiction to go after those who attend these events.
鈥淪ince Jan. 1, our department has dismantled more than 40 of these events,鈥� Hansen said.
Police have made 20 arrests, issued 100 traffic citations and recovered 16 illegal firearms, he said.
鈥淭hese incidents also place significant strain on law enforcement resources, requiring major deployments, impacting overtime and budget constraints and our ability to address other urgent calls for service,” Hansen said.
Fisher hopes this new bill, which will take effect 45 days after County Executive Aisha Braveboy signs it, puts an end to these events, at least in Prince George鈥檚 County.
鈥淵ou’re hurting the community,鈥� Fisher said. 鈥淭here’s no other way I can put it.”
鈥淲e did the max that we have, because that’s how serious it is,鈥� she continued. 鈥淭hat will require you to appear in court when you put incarceration on a civil citation like this. Now it makes it a ‘must appear’ so you can go talk to the judge.鈥�
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