BALTIMORE — It was anything but a quiet night in Harbor East over the weekend.
WATCH: Illegal car rallies takeover streets
The evidence was still on the street on Monday.
Streetcars whipped around South Central Avenue Saturday night with a crowd of people setting off fireworks.
"It very quickly escalated," Marina Farag said.
Marina told WMAR 2 News that when she first looked outside her hotel window on Harbor East Saturday night, she thought the few cars doing donuts in the street was no problem.
"But then slowly we started to realize more and more cars are showing up and people are coming out into the streets."
As she and her friends are visiting from Canada, this was her welcome to Baltimore.
"We were like, Ok, it's the Fourth of July. I think the only one was when a cop car pulled up and someone threw a firework at the cop, so a firework got set off into the buildings around, which was a little bit scary."
Brandon Chaney lives in the area.
He didn't see the car rally that night but saw many videos on social media.
"Disappointed. I thought it was unfortunate that the neighborhood is kind of being used for a little bit of a sideshow act," Chaney said.
This is the very thing Maryland started cracking down on last year, spurring the creation of the Maryland Car Rally Task Force.
"Their sole purpose is to go after these illegal driving exhibitions. Since June 2024 they've dismantled dozens of illegal car rallies, recovered multiple stolen vehicles, taken illegal firearms off the street," said Kyleigh Beaver, spokesperson with Maryland State Police.
Maryland State Police say the task force broke up 6 of these illegal car rallies over the weekend in the city, Baltimore County, and Harford County.
Three people were arrested.
Devon Brown, 24, of Essex, was charged with theft of a motor vehicle.
Brown also had an outstanding warrant for larceny.
State Police additionally arrested and charged Rashawn Brown, 22, of Wilmington, Delaware, with exhibition and reckless driving, and Troy Parker, 18, of Catonsville, with exhibition driving, uninsured vehicle, and suspended registration.
"It can cause damage to not only property but to persons. It can disturb the peace, so there's multiple factors into why these illegal driving exhibitions are dangerous even if you're just watching or if you're participating in them," Beaver said.
Brandon told WMAR 2 News if the situation makes him question his safety in his neighborhood.
"A one-off doesn't really make me feel unsafe. I think I'm disappointed that there's rubber on the road, but overall I'm still happy to be here."
Marina said this didn't ruin her view of the city.
"I think that the city has a lot of life, and we've gotten to explore it a lot over the last few days, so I definitely have enjoyed it here, and it didn't deter me from wanting to come back here."
