Police: Man charged in attempt to run down officers during raucous car meetup

Members of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office and other law enforcement agencies announced charges against a man who, officials claim, attempted to run down two police officers during a dangerous car meetup that occurred in the city's Northeast section last Saturday night.

During the day's event, officials also discussed ongoing efforts to "keeping communities across the city safe from these gatherings," the District Attorney's Office said in a statement.

According to Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney William Sandman, police have charged 25-year-old Deonte Vincent of Philadelphia with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and other offenses after he is alleged to have attempted to strike two police officers with his vehicle before striking another car at a meetup on Saturday.

Sandman said that the incident happened at about 10 p.m. on Saturday, during a car meetup held along the 7400 block of Bustleton Ave, where approximately 50 cars were involved.

When officers arrived to break this meeting up, Sandman said, Vincent drove his vehicle, a Dodge Charger, directly at two officers before he struck another vehicle that was attending the event. After that, Sandman said, Vincent drove off.

However, police were able to identify his vehicle and they secured a warrant for his arrest, Sandman said.

Vincent is in police custody and is being held on $1.3 million bail. He has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 11, 2024.

A night of chaos

After the incident on Bustleton Avenue, at least six other illegal car meet-ups occurred throughout Philadelphia between the night of Sept. 21 and the morning of Sunday, Sept. 22, according to police.

At 11:47 p.m. on 20th Street and Pattison Avenue, over 100 vehicles were reportedly drifting and engaging in reckless driving.

At midnight in the area of Columbus Boulevard and Pattison Avenue, a police officer spotted a silver Nissan doing donuts in the middle of the street. The Nissan then did a 180-degree turn towards the officer's vehicle, investigators said.

The officer maneuvered out of the way and followed the vehicle. He then spotted the Nissan come to a stop on 300 Pattison Avenue after it struck a pole, police said. The officer approached the Nissan and four people fled from the vehicle, according to investigators.

The Nissan's driver, 19-year-old Jhonny Martinez of Upper Darby, was later arrested and charged with recklessly endangering another person.

At 1:30 a.m. on 25th Street and Washington Avenue, police responded to the area for a report of gunshots. They were then met by a woman who said several cars were in the area when she was assaulted by a woman and a man who threw a traffic cone at her, causing her to fall to the ground. While this occurred, a gunshot was heard from the direction of the cars in the street, police said. All vehicles in the area then fled and one spent casing and a live round were recovered and processed. No arrests were made in the incident.

At 2:25 a.m., a large group of cars and people gathered in the area of Marvine Street and Grange Avenue. Investigators said the crowd was engaged in reckless and disorderly behavior and at one point they surrounded the officers. More police responded and the crowd later dispersed. No injuries, arrests or property damage were reported.

At 4 a.m., more than 200 cars were involved in drag racing and drifting on Island and Bartram avenues, police said. Investigators said officers were attacked and a police vehicle was damaged. The crowd then dispersed as more police officers arrived. No arrests were made.

Finally, at 4:33 a.m., more than 100 cars were spotted near City Hall on 15th and Market streets. Police said the cars were drifting and people in the area were setting rubbish fires. Responding officers were attacked and multiple police vehicles were damaged with broken windshields and flattened tires, police said. No arrests were made.

'We are nowhere near done'

According to Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore, officials expect to make many more arrests following last weekend's meetups.

“We are actively investigating criminal activity that occurred that night,” he said. “We are nowhere near done.”

During Thursday's press conference, officials shared some of the video that they have obtained of incidents that happened over the weekend.

The DA's office shared that video on social media.

He said that damage to police vehicles totaled more than $16,000 and thousands of dollars in damages was done at the 11 intersections where these car meetups moved over the course of the weekend.

Throughout the event, police issued 25 citations, and so far, they have seized five vehicles from people who were involved in the meetups, Vanore said.

Yet, more than 30 other vehicles have been identified and Vanore said that police officials plan to continue to investigate and make more arrests.

"We have cameras throughout the city," Vanore said. "We have a lot of these people on video."

Also, he noted that individuals that participated in the meetups were from Philadelphia and nearby communities, as well as coming in from outside the state.

"People have driven long and far to be involved in this and we are going to go get them," promised Vanore. "We are going to travel to wherever we have to to collect these people.”

Also, along with drivers that were involved, Vanore said that police vehicles were being tested by the department's forensics team in order to attempt to identify the individuals who stomped or walked on them during the meetup.

"They jumped all over them," Vanore said.

Outside City Hall on the Sunday morning after the meetups, NBC10's camera found a patrol vehicle with a smashed windshield, where officials said, attendees of a car meetup stomped on the window as officers attempted to break up crowds.

Following those incidents, the Philadelphia Police Department announced that it will be assigning "dozens of officers to address these illegal gatherings" for this upcoming weekend.

Police officials said these officers will focus on the large, dangerous vehicular gatherings that have been forming throughout the city.

A key part of these efforts is having officers in the Criminal Intelligence Unit gather data to learn of these events prior to their formation, which, officials said, is an approach that has been successful in the past.

Anyone with information on the incidents should call Philadelphia Police at 215-686-TIPS.