A little over a week after the new Sixth Street Viaduct opened, a street takeover that led to a three-vehicle collision Monday night forced the Los Angeles Police Department to temporarily shut down the span.
Police said the crash was reported around 10:30 pm. According to witnesses who spoke to local media, the driver of a 2016 White Dodge Challenger had been doing stunts before losing control and crashing into passing traffic.
After the crash, the driver fled the scene. Traffic on both directions was closed during police investigation, but had reopened by Tuesday’s early morning commute.
Although no one was injured in the crash, originally police treated the incident as a hit-and-run. The driver of the vehicle turned himself in to LAPD at Central Station Tuesday afternoon . According to an LAPD news release, the driver who was not identified by name admitted to having collided with two vehicles and fleeing the scene.
The case was presented to the City Attorney’s Office on Wednesday and the driver was charged with “Exhibition of Speed, Hit and Run Misdemeanor, Reckless Driving, and Lying to Police Officers,” according to the release.
Video of the takeover and the crash can be seen in various social media posts:
Although Monday’s was the first crash reported on the viaduct since it opened to motorized vehicles on July 10, there have been numerous reports of street takeovers, stalled traffic and illegally parked cars on the span. And Friday, a second crash was reported (see Update below).
There have also been multiple reports and images of people scaling the bridge’s arches, also posted on social media.
Update
A second collision on the viaduct was reported early Friday. The Los Angeles Times said that about about 2 a.m. a driver crashed into the back a pickup truck that was stopped in a “no parking” zone on the bridge.
And in one of the latest of what some are calling social media stunts, a man received a haircut in the median of the bridge on Wednesday night.
In response, the LAPD has said that it is increasing patrols on and around the bridge and that there are plans to add higher fencing and a median to the bridge, for added safety. Earlier this week Councilman Kevin de León told the Times that the city plans to add cameras to the viaduct to deter and identify drag racers.
“This is the first bridge built in the Instagram era- and as we’ve seen, people will do anything in the pursuit of going viral,” De León said. “That’s why we’re moving quickly on a multi-pronged effort that will keep folks from harming themselves and others.”
This story was originally published on July 20 and updated on July 22.
