Mayor, City Council respond to chaotic Austin “street takeovers”

The takeovers involved racing, running red lights, blocking intersections, and shooting off fireworks. CBS Austin reached out to several council members and the mayor on Monday, asking how this happened and how they will stop it from happening again.

CBS Austin
by Melanie Torre
Monday, February 20th 2023

The takeovers involved racing, running red lights, blocking intersections, and shooting off fireworks. CBS Austin reached out to several council members and the mayor on Monday, asking how this happened and how they will stop it from happening again.

AUSTIN, Texas — Chaos unfolded at intersections across Austin over the weekend. You may have seen the video on social media from Barton Springs Road and South Lamar Boulevard where Saturday night around 9 p.m. a street racing incident unfolded. Police are now describing it as a “street takeover,” and they say four total incidents happened throughout the city.

The takeovers involved racing, running red lights, blocking intersections, and shooting off fireworks. CBS Austin reached out to several council members and the mayor on Monday, asking how this happened and how they will stop it from happening again.

“There were people standing out in the middle of the street trying to grab the cars, hanging onto the cars as they were spinning,” said William Rabel, Barton Springs Saloon property manager.

Scenes involving reckless driving and unruly crowds unfolded between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. Saturday night into Sunday morning.

One police officer was injured, treated, and released from the hospital. APD says multiple patrol vehicles were damaged after rocks and bottles were thrown at them. Two people were arrested and the investigation is ongoing with more charges possible.

Aside from the incident on Barton Springs Road, police reported drivers doing circles at the I-35 Service Road and East Anderson Lane. They also said a crowd gathered throwing glass bottles at Berkman Drive and Barbara Jordan Boulevard. At Braker Lane and Metric Boulevard, drivers blocked the intersection doing donuts while someone started a fire.

Austin District 10 City Council Member Alison Alter witnessed the scene unfolding at Barton Springs Road and South Lamar Blvd. She called 911 but didn’t get through for 28 minutes.

“That is not acceptable — more for the person who has an EMS or a fire incident and can’t get through to report that,” Alter said.

Alter started sounding the alarm on an Austin 911 staffing crisis a year and a half ago. She calls the lack of progress disappointing.

“This has been a long-standing issue. It’s a life or death issue, but it is also at its core a management issue and has nothing to do with the police contract. It has nothing to do with sworn personnel. It is about how we prioritize one of our key functions,” Alter said.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson called 911 hold times unacceptably long, adding he has spoken to the interim city manager and police chief “about our options for dealing with our ongoing staffing challenges at 911 and hope to have at least a temporary solution soon.”

CBS Austin emailed, texted, and called several council members’ offices. We wanted to know how they plan to stop this from happening again and what they’ll do about 911 hold times and the 22 minutes it took officers to get to the scene after the first 911 call was answered. Alter was the only elected official we contacted who was available for an on-camera interview.

Mayor Kirk Watson’s office issued a statement as did council member Zo Qadri who had two of the incidents happen in his district. Council members Leslie Pool and Chito Vela also had incidents happen at major intersections in their districts. Vela’s office said he would wait to comment until briefed by Austin Police.

Pool made a statement on social media saying, “Sunday morning I requested details from Chief Chacon on the intersection blocking events that occurred Saturday night. We know the events were organized and intentional. The actions of those involved set a dangerous precedent, they are lawless and put the public at risk. I support APD’s investigation and all appropriate prosecutions that may come from them.” Monday her office said she was waiting for more information from the police before commenting further.

Qadri’s office said he was unavailable for an interview Monday but he said in a statement:

The events that took place on Saturday night were reckless, illegal, and irresponsible . This will not be tolerated in our city. I’m glad that the officer who was injured that night is doing okay, and I look forward to a complete investigation that holds organizers and participants accountable. Nearly 250 people have died on our roadways in the past two years, and behavior like this will only make the crisis worse. It’s time for serious, community-backed solutions based on education, engineering, and enforcement to ensure our public streets are safe for all Austinites.

District 6 council member Mackenzie Kelly posted a statement on social media calling for more officers. She said, in part, “The simple fact is that we need more police officers in this city, patrolling our streets, downtown, and major events. We need more police responding to calls for service."

Mayor Watson released a lengthy statement addressing both 911 hold times and conversations related to the police department contract set to expire next month:

As the Austin Police Department has stated, the street takeovers over the weekend were illegal and outrageous; they will result in arrest. I’m relieved that the injured police officer is doing OK and the vehicle damage was limited.

The dramatic videos have gone viral and made some folks Internet famous but, for me, the bigger issue is the significant wait times for 911 calls. Our 911 call center received four times the normal number of 911 calls during the incident on Saturday night and that led to unacceptably long waits. I’ve talked to Interim City Manager Jesús Garza and Chief Chacon about our options for dealing with our ongoing staffing challenges at 911 and hope to have at least a temporary solution soon.

The Austin Police Association posted some false comments on Sunday that appeared to wrongly conflate this illegal incident with important community conversations about safety and oversight. Twitter is not an appropriate forum for contract negotiations, and no Austinite should ever accept the false choice between public safety and responsible policing — Austin can, and will, have both. If the Austin Police Association would like to talk about staffing and other issues, we welcome them back to the negotiating table to discuss a one-year contract.

While we wait on the APA, the Austin City Council will take up an ordinance this week that will assure APD officers’ wages, benefits and payout of sick leave hours upon separation are continued as covered under the current contract, even if the City and the police union do not reach an agreement before the current contract expires on March 31. We want our police officers and their families to know that they are supported by this City.

This ordinance will also establish the authority of the Office of the Police Oversight as an investigator as permitted by state law. This option will allow for investigations of anonymous complaints by citizens and police officers.

I believe this ordinance can accomplish our goals, protect and provide security for our police officers, and allow for a robust and effective civilian oversight. But let me be clear – this is not a better outcome than a one-year agreement with the police association. It would be better for everyone if they would return to the negotiating table now, but if they do not then we must pass this ordinance to maintain effective recruiting and retention of APD officers.