Lawmakers look to increase penalties for involvement in street takeovers

Lawmakers are considering stricter penalties to combat a growing problem - street takeovers. The bill has come up for years in Hartford but hasn't made it across the finish line.

A public hearing was held at the capitol on Friday.

New Haven County has been plagued by the problem the last few years now. You ask residents in North Haven about it and it pulls a strong reaction.

“I know there have been numerous ones in the state of Connecticut and its deplorable,” one anonymous resident said.

Others will tell you stories about friends that have been caught at work because of police activity trying to disperse crowds.

“You are putting so many people at risk, you're getting so little out of it, I don’t see why, I think the harsher restrictions are fair,” Rob Gomez said.

Town leaders will echo the sentiment.

“I am fed up, I am disgusted, and we are not going to take it anymore,” North Haven First Selectman Mike Freda said.

The takeovers, often spread widely on social media, elicit strong feelings, but dealing with them, according to municipal leaders, is a challenge. They cite limited consequences available police and towns can leverage.

“There are not a lot of bad consequences, so we need to level off the bad actions being offset with bad consequences,” Freda said.

Mayor Justin Elicker, who testified in a public hearing on the issue Friday, echoed the concern.

“They would be very helpful for us to have additional consequences for those that are involved in these illegal activities,” Elicker said.

Town and city leaders have been advocating for action out of the capital for years, asking for the ability to punish those involved harder. But legislation hasn’t made it across the finish line.

“I think many of us would like to finish it this time,” Senator Gary Winfield (D-New Haven) said to those at the hearing.

The most recent measure, Senate Bill 1284, is the latest in a string of bills on the topic that have come up in the last few legislative sessions.

It would allow towns and cities to leverage bigger fines, ranging from $1,000 on the first offense, to $2,000 on the third offense, coupled with license suspension, just for participating or spectating in some cases.

“It won’t stop unless they actually have consequences for participating in these street takeovers,” State Senator Paul Cicarella (R-North Haven) said.

It would also allow municipalities to collect the vehicles and choose between auctioning off the vehicles or destroying them to free up space.

New Haven, for example, has shown us shipping containers full of ATVs and dirt bikes they have seized.

“We want bad consequences for bad behavior,” Freda said.

Local leaders say it's about sending a message and allowing police or the judicial system the ability to take significant action - something people in the area say is welcome.

“I have seen them try to do a lot of stuff to address the efforts of takeovers and nothing really seems to work so if they are going to that extent, I kind of understand it,” Gomez said.

There is also retroactive action being taken as well. Back in January of this year, a woman was arrested by the New Haven Police Department for orchestrating a street takeover in October of 2024. She was hit with charges related to inciting a riot.