Car Club Party Gets Out Of Control
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (CBS4) - A meeting of car enthusiasts attracted more than a thousand people in Wheat Ridge Friday night.
Neighbors and businesses near West 44th Avenue and Kipling, where the event took place, say it quickly got out of hand.
The car club, 1320 Colorado Chapter, organized the event.
Wheat Ridge Police stepped in to break up massive crowds. Officers say the club became hostile toward police when asked to leave, and some even threw beer bottles at patrol cars.
Ed Becerra owns Young's Market and Garden Center and says the crowd left a mess on his property and never asked permission to park in his lot.
"It was just bottles and stuff, on the sidewalk and on our property," Becerra said. "They left little dig holes in the gravel where someone who took off too fast."
The crowd grew to 1,200 people and 500 cars.
"It'd be nice even, if they asked if they could use the property, that might be a different situation so we know who's doing it," Becerra said. "I hope they don't do it again and I'm sure the police department will start stepping up their patrols here."
The car club's founder, Emmanuel Rivera, tells CBS4 the group has a zero tolerance policy for violence against law enforcement, street racing, drinking and driving, and littering.
"Let's say out of those 1,000 people, 940 of them will all do what we tell them to do, and they will follow the rules, but there will always be that bad apple in the tree that will ruin it for everyone else," Rivera said. "I do want to say sorry to all those people, and we won't be nowhere near there again, I promise that."
The car club hopes to find a permanent space to hold their meetings that can accommodate the larger crowds.
Andrea Flores is a reporter for CBS4. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter @AndreaFloresTV.