Philadelphia police searching for driver that broke officer's ankle during car meetup
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Philadelphia police are searching for the driver who struck a police officer and broke his ankle.
It happened after a large crowd gathered on Broad Street in North Philadelphia early Sunday morning.
"We have an officer hit by a vehicle," a call on the police radio said last weekend.
Philadelphia police can be heard frantically requesting for backup as several hundred people blocked part of North Broad and Thompson Streets early Sunday morning before an officer was struck and left with a broken ankle.
"I need any additional personnel at the gas station!" the officer on police radio said.
RELATED: Chaotic car meetups in Philadelphia won't be tolerated, police say
A cell phone video shows two people hanging out of a car as the driver does doughnuts. Tires marks are now left behind.
"I couldn't even sleep," said Aleah Nelson, who was in her apartment when she heard the noisy crowd outside.
"The problem is it's normal in this area, so that isn't normal, it shouldn't be happening, but in this area it happens a lot," she said.
Aliyah Johnson was driving home at the time when she got caught up in the traffic.
"I was actually very scared. I didn't know what was going on," Johnson said.
"That's just ridiculous! And it should stop! Like y'all just don't care about anybody," she added. "At this point, you're injuring cops, anybody else could have got injured."
The incident is the latest in a series of weekend meetups where hundreds of people gather and block streets in the city.
"This is something that shouldn't happen," Inspector Matthew Gillespie, of the Philadelphia Department's Special Investigations Unit, said.
RELATED: Philadelphia police expect to seize more cars in connection to last weekend's car meetup
Gillespie says oftentimes people communicate about these meetups over social media. But the incident from over the weekend was different.
"It seems like in this instance, and this is just preliminary, it appears it was kind of spontaneous," Gillespie said. "And as these can grow from one car, two cars meeting up, this was the case. Anyone who has video or information over who organizes these things, this is information we want to get."
As police continue to search for the driver that hit the officer, CBS News Philadelphia learned he could face reckless endangerment and other charges.
