DETROIT – The Detroit Police Department held a news conference Monday afternoon to address a video that shows a car doing donuts in the middle of I-94 while traffic is blocked.
UPDATE: Detroit police seek Allen Park man after donut stunt in middle of I-94
Chief James Craig said his department is working to identify the vehicle and people involved in this “ridiculous behavior."
“Here’s my message to them: We are going to find you, and when we do we are going to arrest you and we’re going to seize your vehicle,” Craig said.
- The I-94 “360 sideshow” stunt is related to the Lodge Freeway stunt that went viral this past summer.
- Police say the same group is responsible for both incidents and others around the city.
- A suspect was taken into custody on a related offense that happened in November.
The video posted to social media on Sunday shows a red or orange Chevrolet Camaro doing donuts in the middle of I-94 in Detroit while traffic was blocked and a group of people got dangerously close to the car to record the stunt.
“Not one of them can drive. They are not professional race care drivers. Imagine blocking a freeway and engaging in this 360 burnout sideshow, and the car loses control, flips the median and goes into oncoming traffic. It could happen. You put people’s lives at risk, extreme risk."
License plates were covered in the video with an explicit message for Detroit police, something Craig is taking serious offense to.
“We want it to stop. Do know we will be investigating. We do have a plan for you, so you can go ahead and cover your license plates and use the expletive for what you refer to DPD, we are going to come after you. That is a promise I am making,” said the chief.
Craig said they have a “pretty good lead” on the red or orange Camaro and they believe the person driving it lives outside of the city of Detroit.
Watch the video here (there is explicit language):
If this looks and sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the same kind of stunt video we saw this past summer recorded on the Lodge Freeway. The “We on the Lodge wit it” video blew up on social media, and so is this new I-94 stunt video.
Chief Craig was enraged by the Lodge Freeway video in the summer and said the I-94 incident is related to it. The same group is staging the stunts, Craig said.
“What they’re doing when they engage in this ’360′ activity is a danger to public safety,” he said.
Suspect in custody for related offense
Craig said police have a suspect in custody who was at the I-94 incident but was not actively involved in it.
“We arrested him because in the latter part of November he was involved in this sideshow 360 activity and during that he struck a pedestrian. That pedestrian is in critical condition, still recovering in a hospital ... we were able to identify the suspect and the car involved,” said Craig.
Police seized that vehicle, but the suspect got the car back and was out again on Sunday, Craig said. He is now facing two felony charges: Failure to stop at the scene of crash resulting in serious impairment or death and reckless driving causing serious injury.
Craig said there have been other pedestrians injured in these “360 sideshow" incidents.
“Generally, the victims are not coming forward,” Craig said. “We’re asking that they come forward. We’re asking that anyone with information calls 1-800-SPEAK-UP. We take this very seriously. You’re not going to block our freeways.”
In the Lodge Freeway incident, there was an arrest made at the time. However, no charges ever were issued.