The engines were still roaring when the police intervened. This Sunday, three men were arrested while participating in an urban rodeo held at night in the Béthunes business area in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône. They are two of the participants, arrested while they were behind the wheel and still on the starting line, and the alleged organizer. The latter was taken into custody.
The fruit of a police operation set up to try to fight against these wild car races, a particularly recurring phenomenon with the return of sunny days and whose videos then often make the rounds of social networks. The area being known to be one of the privileged sites for this type of activity, it was then under discreet surveillance of the specialized field brigade (BST) which was able to intervene quickly once reinforcements were called on site. Two large cars were also seized.
Tweet from Val-d'Oise police after an operation against urban rodeos
However, Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône and more broadly the Val-d'Oise, are far from being isolated cases. Gatherings of this type are also regularly organized in neighboring departments, in Seine-et-Marne in particular. Last November, drift and rodeo enthusiasts caused significant damage in the small town of Compans. The town hall denounced damage that could amount to more than 30,000 euros and launched a cry of alarm on the development of this type of races on its territory.