It might be due to the fact that I live in Los Angeles, but I can’t seem to escape that whole car meet debacle, whether it’s Reddit, TikTok, or good old-fashioned news.
California is known for its car culture, from lowriders to JDMs, and everything in between. Despite how car-focused Los Angeles is, it hasn’t always been the most inviting place for car enthusiasts. Recently, a massive gathering of sports cars and muscle cars showed up for a car meet inside the Los Angeles River. Yes, inside. There is notoriously barely any water. Instead, it looks like a really interesting concrete structure that does make for some seriously cool pictures.
However, Los Angeles police impounded 72 vehicles, claiming the car meetup constituted trespassing.
Was it really so bad to have a car meet on the LA River?
The car meet had been advertised online as a photo shoot, with opportunities to get the Los Angeles skyline in the background. Cars started arriving on Sunday, not noticing the allegedly small signs that said “No Trespassing” around the LA River. Most drivers were just posing with their vehicles to get some one-of-a-kind shots. However, there were some burnouts and other shenanigans well before the police arrived.
“They’re messing around, being dumb, being idiots and all that,” Alexander Pimienta told FOX LA. “But hey, everyone’s having fun, but they left, and they got the cops called on us.”
The few bad eggs prompted the Los Angeles Police Department to call on its street racing task force to check out the LA River after hearing of the meetup. The results were quite harsh. Everyone at the meet was issued a trespassing ticket, but many cars were towed away and will be held for 30 days. Pimienta said: “That’s around $3,000 to get them out.” Eighty-four arrests were made.
The harsh reaction from the Los Angeles Police Department has sparked outrage in the car community. One Instagram post had plenty of comments calling out the LAPD. One person wrote: “They could have been stopping real crime.” Another argued: “They saw their chance to tax and took action right away. They don’t even act to crime this fast.”
However, many are blaming the car community for not knowing the Los Angeles River was off-limits. It was honestly pretty hard to find any pre-existing pages that blatantly state the riverbed is off-limits to walking and vehicles. Most of the information regarding this are from news stories using the 72 impounded vehicles as proof. But I guess I can see how some car enthusiasts wouldn’t know beforehand that this wasn’t allowed. It seems common sense, but maybe they figured it could be argued since there’s nothing explicitly written out anywhere.
But I found one thing: FilmLA says you need a permit for commercial filming along the Los Angeles River. Like when it became an iconic spot in Grease. Since then, it’s become part of car culture, appearing as a racing venue in Midnight Club 2 and as the backdrop of Gone in 60 Seconds‘ police chase. Fast and Furious has used the spot multiple times, cementing it as an exciting spot for the city’s street culture. But again, it seems you need a permit to take photos there.
While the random car guys may be innocent, the person who organized the event should have probably looked into this. Maybe the car guys figured they did. I can’t find the person who originally organized the event, but those who attended have said they didn’t intend for it to be that large.
Either way, car enthusiasts are calling the LA River a “burnt” spot, essentially saying it’s no longer possible to even take quick pictures there now that cops are on high alert.
Many people have applauded the police for stopping “takeovers.” But I do feel sort of sad for these car enthusiasts. Maybe I’m biased, but I feel they weren’t really harming anyone, even if they did ignore that scrap of paper. Is it really so wrong to celebrate your cars? To get together with other enthusiasts for a fun photo? It reminds me of that new law in Minnesota that hoped to ban classic cars from attending evening car meets or driving down the street. I get it’s trespassing, but the arrests and impounded vehicles do feel a bit excessive.
Then again, the LAPD is likely trying to prove a point.
Image Credit: CBS LA / YouTube
