For Immediate Release: February 13, 2026
OPD NEWS:
A nearly month-long investigation by the Oakland Police Department’s (OPD) Sideshow Reduction Team (SRT) resulted in two people in custody and twenty-four vehicles seized.
Early this morning, OPD officers, assisted by the US Marshals Task Force, executed residential search warrants in Hayward, Stockton, and Pittsburg. Officers took two organizers of sideshows into custody for felony warrants connected to the promotion and facilitation of a sideshow on January 17, 2026.
The City of Oakland experienced a large, highly disruptive sideshow at five locations across the city on January 17, 2026. Oakland community members reported the sideshow incidents and gunfire associated with them. OPD units arrived and dispersed the sideshow group at multiple locations across Oakland between 1:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.
The sideshow involved approximately 100 vehicles and 200 spectators, spanning several Bay Area cities, including Milpitas, Fremont, and Hayward. Sideshows of this nature have become a persistent public safety challenge in Oakland, the Bay Area, and across California, having a significant impact on communities and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to city infrastructure.
The vehicles used by the promoters for the sideshow event have been seized as part of the investigation. Twenty-four additional vehicles utilized in the sideshow event were located in fourteen cities across the Bay Area and were towed with a 30-day hold. Additional sideshow organizers have been identified, furthering ongoing investigations.
OPD will continue to take decisive action to disrupt sideshows and hold accountable those who put the community at risk by organizing and participating in such activities. OPD remains committed to working with the community and partner agencies to prevent the dangerous and disruptive behavior associated with sideshows within Oakland and throughout the Bay Area.
OPD would also like to thank the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, Davis PD, and Vacaville PD for their assistance.
