Montgomery County Police Officers responded to reports of a large car meet-up Saturday night at a parking lot on Cherry Hill Rd in Silver Spring which involved more than 100 vehicles, according to the MCPD. After the meet was broken up by police, the drivers descended to Downtown Silver Spring where Fenton Street and Ellsworth Plaza were temporarily shut down by drivers doing donuts and setting off fireworks.
Some drivers were cited by police but no arrests were made following the incident.
WUSA9’s Tom Dempsey reports that Montgomery County will be expanding the use of license plate reader data to connect license plates to cars observed in rallies similar to the one Saturday night.
During a council briefing Monday morning, Montgomery County Council President Tom Hucker is quoted as saying, “This lawlessness in Silver Spring has to stop,” and “I believe we need a much more vigorous and coordinated law enforcement effort to step up and take action to prevent future incidents like these from happening and shut them down immediately before someone gets killed or seriously injured,” according to WTOP.
Video of the incident below:
SILVER SPRING CHAOS: Several hundred drivers blocking roads, doing donuts, and setting off fireworks! Between the US-29 corridor, including Downtown Silver Spring, and the College Park Park & Ride off of I-495. 1 person in custody for fighting Officers 495W @ US-29 #MDTraffic pic.twitter.com/lh8P2fA1kp
— Cordell (@CordellTraffic) November 21, 2021
VIDEO from TONIGHT at Fenton Street and Ellsworth Drive/the Ellsworth Plaza (Downtown Silver Spring, MD). Video taken looking towards/down what would be the Ellsworth Pedestrian Plaza. 🎥 borrowed from Instagram. pic.twitter.com/v9mZPJCnf6
— Cordell (@CordellTraffic) November 21, 2021