Hundreds of teenagers on e-bikes and motorized scooters swarmed an area of downtown Orlando, Florida, recently, causing chaos and dangerous situations.
Police alleged the young people broke red lights, impeded traffic, and blocked roadways, Fox 35 reported Friday.
Video footage showed the group zooming through an intersection where what appeared to be an ambulance was trying to move through traffic with its lights flashing, per WKMG.
“Definitely a safety risk. There’s a lot of traffic in Orlando. Lots of traffic in Orlando,” one man told the outlet.
Police detained several of the young people and issued criminal citations. Authorities also confiscated some of the e-bikes.
“Those detained or cited were then released to their parents or guardians. Police said several bikes were not properly registered as required by law, which led to them being towed,” the Fox article read.
More video showed officers nabbing some of the young people in an intersection:
Law enforcement and city officials across the nation have issued warnings against such gatherings, which have ended up frightening Americans and putting people in danger, per Breitbart News.
Many such incidents are organized online and end up in neighborhoods, malls, parks, and restaurants, sometimes resulting in fights, robberies, vandalism, and gunfire.
Before the nation celebrated its 250th anniversary on July 4, law enforcement agencies worked to thwart the “teen takeovers” before they occurred, according to Breitbart News.
Several aldermen in Chicago, Illinois, said they wanted to punish the parents of juveniles involved in such violent events, which had also been plaguing their communities.
According to the Fox article, “Police said there were hundreds of kids, but did not release specifics on the number of kids detained, how many citations were issued, or how many bikes were towed.”