There are also newly released 911 tapes from those who called in a crucial tip. This incident has sparked a lot of outrage, not only with the CHP, but with the public, and investigators are hearing loud and clear from them.
A man, who does not want to be identified, told us, "The first thought was that it was, in a sense, kind of reckless."
The CHP says the tips are coming in from people who know those involved in the brazen illegal sideshow on a busy Oakland interstate Saturday afternoon. They included a call from the person we interviewed who said he wants to do the right thing. He said, "By providing the name of the person who knew someone in the video in hopes that that might lead to figuring the rest of the group that were in the video."
Meantime, the highway patrol released 911 recordings from Saturday afternoon.
Call No. 1:
- Caller: They're swinging donuts in the middle of the freeway. Right now they've blocked off all lanes of traffic.
Dispatch: Donuts in the freeway?
Caller: Yes, ma'am. Guys are hanging out the sunroof of the mustang. Other guys are hanging out the windows of the cars. They have all lanes of the traffic blocked."
Call No. 2:
- Another caller: I guess it would be road rage or reckless driving, a sideshow.
Dispatch: Where is that sir?
Caller: On the 880 freeway.
The calls started streaming in at 4 p.m. on Saturday, inundating the CHP dispatch center in Vallejo. The incident involved at least a half-dozen cars and videos of the dangerous activity are all over YouTube and other social media. This incident comes at a time when city leaders thought they had these illegal sideshows under control.
In 2011, two people were killed when shooting broke out at a street party that turned into a sideshow. ABC7 News asked Oakland Mayor Jean Quan about this latest display, on a busy interstate.
"That's frustrating because they'd sort of gone away and then we had this one very high profile one. So we'll see if it's a long term trend or just a onetime thing," said Quan.
We have also heard from members of car clubs in the Bay Area who participate in legal events. Mike Mak owns TPS Motorsports in Campbell, an auto supply store that caters to those who own high performance cars.
"Obviously what they're doing it's fairly dangerous and we definitely don't condone it and I believe the vast majority of enthusiasts wouldn't condone it," said Mak.
Thanks to all the tips, investigators at the CHP headquarters do believe they are closing in on some of the drivers involved, but they're waiting to make arrests until they consult with the District Attorney because this was an unprecedented event and they want to make sure they identify exactly which charges apply.
