MILWAUKEE — Scott Meunier was on his way home Sunday night when traffic suddenly came to a standstill. The cause was a so-called "car takeover" at the intersection of 16th and Greenfield.
"I came to a red light behind a bunch of cars and I saw a lot of smoke in the intersection of 16th and Greenfield," Meunier said.
What he witnessed was onlookers shutting down the intersection while cars sped in circles with people hanging out of the windows.
"I noticed there were multiple cars taking turns doing donuts around a construction barrel that they placed in the center of the intersection," Meunier said. "There were like 100 people standing there watching and these cars were getting within inches of hitting one of them."
WATCH: Witness alarmed by Milwaukee intersection 'car takeovers' endangering public
These car takeovers have popped up in different public intersections across Milwaukee. Another one happened at Oakland and Locust the night before, with tire marks still visible at both locations.
Meunier expressed concern about the safety risks these events pose, particularly for spectators.
"My only concern was for the people standing there watching it, and they came awful close to some of those spectators as they were spinning the cars around," Meunier said.
The reckless driving trend represents a significant safety concern for the community, according to witnesses.
"They're out there having fun, yeah, but when they kill someone or injure someone and they have to sit in jail for a long time because of that— they're going to be crying on their shoulder regretting they did it," Meunier said.
Milwaukee Police confirmed they were called to both scenes this weekend. They said no arrests were made and no injuries were reported.
Fellow drivers like Meunier hope these takeovers stop happening.
"I've never seen anything like that. I think that they need to be taken off the street," Meunier said.
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