Charges have now officially been laid following a massive car meetup over the weekend during which hundreds of people defied lockdown rules and numerous other laws to gather, perform extremely dangerous driving stunts in a ring of fire, and jump on the vehicles of police who arrived to break up the event.
The confederacy of dunces began their shenanigans around 2:30 a.m. on April 8 in a parking lot near Victoria Park and Finch Avenues, and were particularly uncooperative with authorities, who told blogTO earlier this week that they were "met with hostility."
The crowd eventually dispersed from the area — which has been the site of such meetups in the past, even during lockdown — only to continue their escapades elsewhere in the city on the first night of the new provincewide shutdown.
An hour later, another large group of presumably the same culprits was discovered near the Toronto Zoo, again crowding around and partying while some performed fiery burnouts and donuts.
Obstinate as hell, they simply relocated to a third spot in Scarborough, near Meadowvale Road and the 401, according to CP24.
Toronto Police broke up a huge and fiery stunt driving event in North York this weekend - 📹 6ixBuzz TV https://t.co/oGlWk24Msl #Toronto #NorthYork #StuntDriving #TorontoPolice #Police pic.twitter.com/1Cqp5NHDIc
— blogTO (@blogTO) April 5, 2021
During the current shutdown, outdoor gatherings are capped at five people, except for those who live in the same household or are participating in a religious ceremony such as a wedding or funeral (and no, the Church of Drift is not a recognized denomination).
But who would really expect that people flagrantly lighting fire to the ground and engaging in hazardous, illegal driving antics would follow government orders amid a pandemic?
In the end, despite the brash disregard for health and safety mandates, only 19 people in total among the ill-mannered crowd that was reported to be more than 100 people-strong ended up being charged for violating the Reopening Ontario Act, busted at the second of the three gatherings.
One of the individuals, a 19-year-old from Waterdown, also faces charges including stunt driving, arson, and more, and has had his black coupe impounded.
One officer reminded the public in a tweet today "remember if you partake in these criminal acts that you're doing it in front of 100s of people who are recording it" after this second set of larges was laid.
The force is still on the lookout for some of the other people spotted in video footage of the incidents.
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