Police: Street takeover in Shelton draws 500 vehicles from five states

A street takeover event in Shelton on Saturday drew 500 vehicles from at least five states, police said.

Shelton police learned that the takeover was planned for the area of Research Drive on Saturday and worked with state police, federal officials and police in Milford, Orange, Derby and Trumbull to mobilize along the corridor of Bridgeport Avenue and position security units throughout the area, according to the Shelton Police Department.

At 8 p.m., about 500 vehicles arrived in the area for the takeover from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont — takeovers are unsanctioned events where large groups of motorists block roads and take over parking lots, performing stunts with their vehicles, police said.

When the vehicles arrived at the Research Drive business parking lots Saturday they were turned away by police. The drivers then tried to go to other parking lots in the area using social media to coordinate the change of plans, police said.

The group then left Shelton and drove to North Haven, Orange, Derby and then back to Shelton, with officers from each department traveling with them to the other towns.

Several infractions were issued to drivers and some vehicles were towed, but no criminal arrests were made in Shelton, police said.

Shelton police said in a statement that they “will stay vigilant to ‘street takeovers’ and other types of unsanctioned gathers like these and respond accordingly.”