Kalifornia again(Sorry Jamo)

[meat]

Originally Posted by Cobrabill

SIEG HEIL!!!

4/2/2008
California: Police Raid Car Enthusiast Gathering, Generate Revenue
Police raid Riverside, California parking lot to issue modified car tickets at local car enthusiast gathering.

Using $503,000 in federal and state gas tax revenue to pay for overtime, nine police agencies in Riverside, California sent more than one hundred police officers to surround a gathering of automotive enthusiasts. Owners of imported sport compact cars had gathered at the Canyon Crossing shopping center on Friday night to swap stories, talk about their passion for cars and show off the latest enhancements to their rides. At around 11pm police surprised participants by blocking all exits with fifty police cruisers. Officers then began a warrantless search and interrogation operation of the 150 vehicles that were present.

"If you're not into street racing, why would you need that?" Riverside Police Traffic Sergeant Skip Showalter asked an enthusiast during a similar crackdown last year. "Why would you want more power going to your car?"

Police issued a total of forty-eight tickets for "engine modifications" with police accusing the owners of the parked vehicles of being street racers. Another fifty tickets were issued for paperwork violations, dark window tinting and lack of a front license plate. The most revenue, however, will be generated from the fees imposed on twenty vehicles that were confiscated. Despite labeling the parking lot raid as taking place at a "street racing venue," Riverside Police offered no evidence that any street racing actually took place.

Across the state, gas tax funds are regularly used to fund similar crackdowns that generate big revenue. In 2004, the California Highway Patrol issued a total of 101,553 "modified car" citations worth $10.5 million according to CHP data obtained by TheNewspaper.

Other law enforcement agencies participating in Friday night's raid included the California Highway Patrol, Riverside County Sheriff's Department, and police from Baldwin Park, Fontana, Irwindale, Moreno Valley, Ontario and Mount San Jacinto Community College.

Wow. It's like a game of Telephone gone horribly, horribly wrong. The more correct story:

3 Arrested, 20 Cars Seized In Street Racing Bust
RIVERSIDE, Calif. Three people were arrested, 100 citations issued and 20 cars were impounded after more than 150 street racers were corralled early Saturday morning by nearly 100 police officers at a shopping center near Moreno Valley.

Police checked the more than 150 cars and impounded 20 of them, Riverside police spokesman Steven Frasher said in a statement. One of the impounded cars had a stolen engine and transmission, while another 14 had altered engines or identification information.

The citations issued were for vehicle code violations. Another 48 citations were issued for illegal engine modifications common in street racing.

Racers had been tearing up the streets for the past several Friday nights at Canyon Crossing, 6187 Valley Springs Parkway, Frasher said. The shopping center is within the Riverside city limits next to Moreno Valley. The crackdown was conducted by a multi-agency task force.

One arrest was for speed exhibition, one for resisting arrest and the third for being drunk in public.

"We want to send a powerful message that street racing will not be tolerated," Riverside police Sgt. Skip Showalter said in a release.

http://cbs2.com/local/Riverside.Stre....2.687707.html

Other links:
ABC
Press Enterprise
MSNBC

Amazing how that story morphed into some kind of facist thing. But, again, look at the source.

Your pal,
Meat.