People threw fireworks at patrol cars, fired guns in air at weekend sideshows in East Bay

ANTIOCH, Calif. - Massive sideshows involving hundreds of cars and spectators took over the streets of four East Bay cities and they lasted for several hours.

Police said 150 cars and nearly 200 spectators participated in several sideshows Saturday night. They blocked intersections, threw fireworks at patrol cars and fired guns in the air. Police made one arrest and towed more than 20 cars.

Skid marks were clearly visible in the parking lot of the Arco gas station on West 10th Street and Auto Center Drive in Antioch on Sunday.

"There was roughly about anywhere to 100 to 150 cars here doing donuts as you can see in the parking lot and intersection over here," said Lorenzo Del Real.

Del Real, a gas station employee, wasn’t working Saturday night but lives nearby. He saw police come from all directions to stop it.

Police said the intersection was overtaken just before 11 a.m. 

They provided images of hundreds of spectators. 

Cars raced dangerously close within feet of the gas pumps.

"My coworker was terrified," said Del Real. "My boss shut down the store during the time everything was occurring for safety reasons for us and the store."

Police towed 21 cars and issued 20 citations. They said one car nearly ran over a police officer.

Sideshow participants then went to Brentwood taking over the intersection of Lone Tree Way and Highway 4 and then Oakley where police said bottles were thrown at them. An arrest was made after a car crashed after trying to get away from police.

At 1:30 a.m., more than 50 cars returned to Antioch. The night ended in Pittsburg where several shots were fired.

Jeremiah Rafike heard the sideshow. He’s born and raised in Antioch and said the activity is escalating.

"This is ruining people’s tax dollars, people that have to go to work the next day, people who have little kids," said Rafike. "This isn’t right just so someone can have their 15 seconds of fame on video."

Police said they got several license plates and hope to tow those cars.

Anyone with information about the sideshows is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925)778-2441 or Detective Bledsoe at 925-779-6884. Tips may be left at text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

Azenith Smith is a reporter for KTVU.  Email Azenith at azenith.smith@fox.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @AzenithKTVU or Facebook or ktvu.com.