San Jose police announce arrests after monthslong sideshow investigation

SAN JOSE — Officials announced a major crackdown on sideshows Thursday, saying they had used the city’s so-called “promoter ordinance” to arrest seven people responsible for publicizing and promoting more than 20 of the unpermitted street events.

At a news conference on Thursday afternoon, San Jose police announced the arrest of seven suspects who allegedly hosted and promoted 22 sideshows in the South Bay city as part of a group called the Hockey Team.

RELATED: San Jose authorities announce more arrests in sideshow infamous for attack on police car

According to a city news release, the suspects were indicted in September on charges related to felony conspiracy to violate the promoter ordinance; one person was also suspected of being involved in a theft that occurred at a sideshow.

Of the seven men arrested, five are residents of San Jose, and two are from Oakland. Police said they also have outstanding arrest warrants for two more suspects, a man from Sunnyvale and a man from Salinas.

“San Jose is truly a model and is leading the way in how communities can respond to the sideshow epidemic,”  said San Jose Police Chief Paul Joseph. “Our message today is clear. In San Jose, watching a sideshow is illegal, participating in one is illegal, promoting one is illegal. If you do it, we will find you, take your vehicle and take you to jail.”

Joseph said this was the city’s largest enforcement effort to date under the laws passed in 2020 and 2021, which led to a crackdown in sideshow activity. The chief cited the ordinances, which ban “spectating, promoting, encouraging, instigating, assisting, facilitating or aiding and abetting” those who organize sideshows and reckless driving in San Jose.

Operation Penalty Box, as the bust was called, lasted 28 months and monitored at least 23 major sideshows that the Hockey Team advertised, police said. Joseph said that, on average, the group’s sideshows would bring in at least a dozen vehicles and attract crowds of hundreds that could stop traffic at seven or eight intersections for hours at a time.

The challenge for law enforcement in this investigation came from the careful planning of sideshow organizers, Joseph said; only a few individuals would share details about the events in a decentralized manner, making it harder for authorities to find out about them in advance.

Joseph said that as police conducted their investigation, they noted eight instances of police vehicles attacked by sideshow participants, including an infamous daylight incident earlier this year that was caught on video. Investigators also located and seized dozens of firearms discharged at sideshows and tallied numerous instances of lasers pointed at police on the ground and in helicopters, six pedestrians struck by reckless drivers and two officers hit by sideshow participants’ vehicles.

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan thanked police for their efforts during the investigation and warned people who may attend or participate in sideshows that they were at risk of losing their cars, paying penalties or even facing jail time. He also emphasized following traffic laws ahead of Halloween activities Thursday and through the weekend, advising drivers to be careful with potential trick-or-treaters walking around.

“We may not catch you the night you attend or promote or participate in a sideshow, maybe not the day or week after, but you will be caught. You will be held accountable,” Mahan said. “Don’t sentence your future self for the mistakes you made today.”

Santa Clara County Chief Assistant District Attorney Jay Boyarsky said some of the suspects were arraigned Wednesday, and more arraignments will occur in the future.

“The next step is we hold them accountable and we send them to prison,” Boyarsky said.

Boyarsky said that eight of the defendants could receive a maximum sentence of five years and four months in state prison, and one defendant could receive a maximum sentence of six years in state prison.

Amaan Hinif Cruz, a San Jose State student originally from Oakland, said that they understand why the police are cracking down on sideshows because of the danger to participants, spectators and the general public.

“It’d be cool if they could get it to stop a little bit,” Hinif Cruz said. But they also said sideshows could be made safer if there was a way to perform driving stunts legally, under police supervision.