Arrests After Illegal Car Rally Smash-Up

Montgomery County police arrested two men and a 17-year-old after a February street takeover in Chevy Chase damaged two marked police cruisers. (bethesdamagazine.com) (wusa9.com) Police identified the adult suspects as Ayden Joseph Cline, 18, of Cumberland, Pennsylvania, and Novorriya Gregory Smith Jr., 20, of Lusby, Maryland. The third person charged is a 17-year-old from Laurel. (wusa9.com) (wjla.com) Investigators said the rally unfolded around 12:39 a.m. on February 22 after a large group of vehicles moved from Prince George’s County toward Silver Spring, then gathered at East West Highway and Connecticut Avenue. Drivers blocked traffic and spun donuts in the intersection. (montgomerycountymd.gov) (bethesdamagazine.com) According to police, several people stood in the roadway to keep officers from entering while the takeover continued. In one cruiser, an officer was still inside when the rear window was broken and the windshield was smashed. (montgomerycountymd.gov) (bethesdamagazine.com) Police said Smith is accused of smashing the rear window of a cruiser and exposing himself to the officer inside. He was charged with reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, malicious destruction of property, failure to obey lawful orders, obstruction and hindering, and indecent exposure. (wusa9.com) Cline is accused of standing on the back of a police cruiser while holding a lit flare. Police charged him with reckless endangerment, disorderly conduct, malicious destruction of property, failure to obey lawful orders, and obstruction and hindering. (wusa9.com) The 17-year-old faces disorderly conduct, malicious destruction of property, failure to obey lawful orders, and obstruction and hindering charges, and was released to family, according to police. Cline and Smith were being held without bond when police announced the arrests. (wusa9.com) The Chevy Chase incident was one of eight illegal car rallies the Maryland Car Rally Task Force said it monitored or disrupted that night. State police said high-visibility patrols prevented crowds of up to 300 participants from shutting down roads elsewhere in the region. (bethesdamagazine.com) (news.maryland.gov) County Executive Marc Elrich said after the arrests that street takeovers have become “more dangerous and more organized” and that participants now “embolden each other” in large groups. Police said the goal is to identify organizers, drivers, and spectators who help block roads. (bethesdamagazine.com) (nbcwashington.com) The case remains part of a wider crackdown in Montgomery County after another April car-rally incident in Kensington ended with two people shot. In Chevy Chase, no officers were injured, but the damaged cruisers turned the February takeover into a felony investigation. (wusa9.com) (montgomerycountymd.gov)