SAN LEANDRO — A man suspected of doing doughnuts and peeling rubber during an illegal sideshow Thursday morning also injured a California Highway Patrol officer while trying to run away, police said.
Mario Medina, 37, of San Leandro, is suspected of felony evasion and felony battery on a police officer, the CHP said. Officers arrested him after chasing him a short distance. He got out of a gray truck engaging in the illegal activity.
Police responded just before 4:30 a.m. to reports of screeching sounds at 167th Avenue and Los Banos Street, not far from Interstate 580. The area is known as Ashland.
When the officers tried to pull Medina over, he got out of his car and ran away, trying to climb over a fence in the process, CHP spokesman Cmdr. Stephen Perea said. While doing so, Medina kicked the officer, Perea said.
The officer suffered a minor injury and was treated by medics at the scene.
The CHP also will seek misdemeanor charges against Medina of resisting an officer and driving under the influence.
Members of the community received credit from the CHP for their quick response to the activity.
Sideshows have plagued many communities for decades, occasionally involving hundreds of vehicles. Participants take over city streets and drive erratically, sometimes hanging outside their vehicles, while being cheered on by bystanders. Over the years there have been killings, fatal wrecks and other violence at different sideshow venues.
“They put the community in danger,” Perea said at a press conference broadcast on the CHP’s Facebook page. “And they put themselves in danger, quite frankly.”