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Rockville businesses urging police to stop car rallies
Rockville business owners speaking out tonight, saying car rallies are taking over their parking lots. Hundreds showed up to one rally over the weekend, putting other people in harm's way. Now the nearby business owners and residents are calling on police to do more to shut it down.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - Montgomery County police have arrested multiple suspects connected to dangerous street takeovers and car rallies, including an incident that damaged police cruisers and another that led to a shooting.
February 22 incident
What we know:
Detectives arrested two adults and one juvenile in connection with a February 22 street takeover that began in Prince George’s County and moved into downtown Silver Spring.
Police say the group gathered around 12:39 a.m., blocking traffic along East West Highway and Connecticut Avenue while drivers performed donuts in the roadway.
During the incident, individuals exited their vehicles and stood in the intersection, preventing officers from entering the area.
Two marked police cruisers were damaged. In one case, an officer was inside when the rear window was broken and the windshield shattered. No officers were injured.
A 17-year-old from Laurel is charged with disorderly conduct, malicious destruction of property, failure to obey lawful orders, and hindering.
Eighteen-year-old Ayden Joseph Cline, of Cumberland, Pennsylvania, is charged as an adult with reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, malicious destruction of property, failure to obey lawful orders, and obstruction and hindering. Police say he was seen on the back of a cruiser holding a lit flare.
Twenty-year-old Novorriya Gregory Smith Jr., of Lusby, Maryland, is accused of smashing a cruiser’s rear window and exposing himself to an officer. He faces charges including reckless endangerment, indecent exposure, and destruction of property.
April 4 incident
What we know:
In a separate incident on April 4 around 2:33 a.m., officers responded to reports of gunfire at a parking garage in the 10400 block of Armory Avenue in Kensington during another car rally.
Two victims later arrived at a hospital with gunshot wounds.
Police identified 19-year-old Hermes Matewere as the suspect in the April shooting through surveillance video.
Matewere is charged with two counts of first- and second-degree assault, reckless endangerment, and multiple firearms violations, including possession of a firearm by a minor.
What's next:
Cline, Smith Jr., and Matewere are being held without bond. The juvenile suspect was released to a parent or guardian.