RCMP in northeastern New Brunswick are asking the public to report so-called “burn-out” parties where drivers deliberately spin their wheels for large crowds of onlookers.
Sgt. Stephane Blanchard says there is always a rash of the parties in the week leading up to National Acadian Day, which was Thursday.
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“Historically at this time of year we get those kinds of events. It’s been going on for years. I can’t explain it, it’s just part of it,” Blanchard said. “It’s a culture thing. It’s part of Acadian Day.”
More than 100 people gathered during an incident last weekend in Ste-Rose, N.B., and police say their vehicles were pelted with rocks and bottles when they responded.
“You involve alcohol and drugs and some people don’t like police, so here’s their chance to keep us away,” Blanchard said.
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“We’ve never had officers injured, but a few years ago we had a couple of thousand dollars damage on different police cars by rocks,” he said.
Blanchard said that between Aug. 8 and Aug. 10 police responded to nine reports of vehicle gatherings and there have been others since.
“We have zero tolerance for those kinds of events. While some files are still under investigation, some people have been issued tickets because their cars were no longer road worthy,” he said.
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A number of people were charged with impaired driving Thursday evening and it’s believed some were coming from burn-out parties.
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He said people take their families to those parties, and it’s dangerous because pavement, rocks and debris can be thrown by the spinning tires.
“Most times drugs and alcohol are involved, so then people take more chances and those drivers can lose control very quick,” he said. “We’ve been lucky so far and we don’t want something bad to happen, but it’s a big risk.”
RCMP are asking anyone with information on burn-out parties to call police or Crime Stoppers.
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