Watch Florida Highway Patrol Drop The Hammer On A Street Takeover

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Thanks to a new law that just went into effect in Florida, cops there can now really crush illegal street takeover events. Participants can get hit with felony charges and even have their vehicle seized. With that kind of tool at their disposal. Florida Highway Patrol teamed up with other law enforcement agencies to put the smack down on a street takeover and a film crew came along to document the whole thing.

Do people in Florida actually pull over for law enforcement?

One of the tools they use to spot potential takeovers in progress is drones. Those little eyes in the sky help law enforcement monitor how traffic is flowing in an area, or in this case how it isn’t. Armed with real-time information, they can proceed to contain a takeover and hopefully take everyone at it, participants and spectators, into custody in one fell swoop.

In fact, that’s what the directive is: come in, shut the takeover down, get everyone in handcuffs. They even strategize about what to do if some cars slip through the cracks and run. Two helicopters will be in the air, providing support to track runners, so the net should close tightly.

Also among FHP’s arsenal is its unmarked Ford Mustangs. Troopers use those cars to bust aggressive drivers, but on this night they’re the perfect way to get close to takeovers without arousing suspicion since they just blend right in with the crowd. Local law enforcement has its own unmarked units as well running surveillance as the street takeover begins to assemble.

Patience pays off as intelligence comes in that at least 80 cars have assembled for a takeover. It’s time to drop the hammer and make an example of the scofflaws. Troopers roll out and it’s like in a Western movie when everyone in the town can tell a shootout is about to go down on Main Street.

Someone must’ve warned the takeover people because they start to scatter like rats. But even as they run, FHP and other law enforcement are on them like white on rice, chasing them down and zip tying suspects’ hands behind their back.

Several stolen vehicles were recovered in the bust. So were drugs. Like we’ve said before, street takeovers are a magnet for crime, so it’s great to see them getting taken apart once and for all.

Images via Nick OFF Duty/YouTube

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