After street racers do stunts on Lower Wacker Drive with spectators in ring of fire, police Supt. David Brown says more resources are needed for prevention

CHICAGO (CBS) — Between illegal street racing and spectators being surrounded by a circle of fire right in the middle of Lower Wacker Drive over the weekend, it was an accident waiting to happen.

We have exposed such dangerous car stunts in Chicago time and time again, and now police Supt. David Brown admits more resources are needed to prevent such scenes.

Brown said no one called police to report the crowd. But the city does have video of the gathering and is investigating to see who can be held accountable.

“We do have pod video of that happening, and we are looking into who we can hold accountable there,” Brown said, “but I think that speaks more to we need to add more resources to our downtown – particularly during those overnight hours, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Meanwhile, as CBS 2’s Tim McNicholas reported Monday, people who live nearby say such mayhem happens all the time.

Around 2 a.m. Sunday, a crowd of 100 people with dozens of cars gathered on Lower Wacker Drive at Columbus Drive. In video, at least one person can be seen with what looks like a gun. 

Video posted to the scene from Facebook show drivers drifting and doing stunts around a ring of fire in the middle of which the spectators are standing.

A search on social media will turn up more scenes just like that one on the city’s lower streets over the past couple years. People who live in the buildings up above Lower Wacker Drive say it needs to stop.

“That car could have gone out of control and ran 10 people over – possible injuries,” said David Haworth.

Another person who lives near Lakeshore East Park just to the south said neighbors often hear the engines revving on Lower Wacker and Lower DuSable Lake Shore Drive. She said she even from her unit on the 34th floor of a Lakeshore East high-rise.

Haworth also lives in a high-rise, and he too often hears engines rumbling from drivers doing stunts.

“Almost every night when I’m out walking the dog – 11 o’clock, I hear them zip by,” he said.

A search on social media also turns up numerous similar scenes. One posted to Facebook in December shows a driver burning out in front of a police car. 

Haworth says the city needs to do more to prevent the dangerous stunts.

“It should be, I guess, pretty easy to monitor the area or sit in the area, and I think it’d be pretty obvious if they’re around,” he said.

There is a bill that has made its way through Springfield aimed at introducing new penalties for such car stunts and gatherings – including fines and jail time.

The bill has made its way to the desk of Gov. JB Pritzker, but he hasn’t signed it yet.