5 arrested during sideshow in Santa Rosa

Police in Santa Rosa on Friday arrested five people in connection with a sideshow that was occurring in the parking lot of a business center.

Nicholas Uribe, 23, and Mario Espinosa Jr., both of Santa Rosa, were arrested on suspicion of reckless driving in a parking lot and violation of probation, Mario Hernandez, 31, and Raymond Herrera, 18, both of Santa Rosa, were arrested on suspicion of reckless driving in a parking lot, and Uriel Cordova-Lomei, 27, of Santa Rosa, was arrested on suspicion of reckless driving in a parking lot and felony child endangerment, police said.

Officers with the Santa Rosa Police Department responded Friday night to 1950 Santa Rosa Avenue to reports of recent sideshows that have been occurring over the past several weeks.

Police said hundreds of people and vehicles have been gathering in the parking lots of Costco and Best Buy on Friday nights, and police had been receiving complaints of vehicles driving recklessly, putting the public at risk and disrupting businesses.

On Friday, police set up cameras to capture reckless driving and officers were deployed to the area to assist with traffic stops on vehicles that were driving recklessly. In addition to the arrests, there were six citations issued, police said.

Police said typical sideshows include vehicles spinning doughnuts, speeding, screeching tires, racing and other various legal activities.