Not Every Party Invitation Is Worth Accepting: Advice From the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office

The invitation went out on social media. So did the response.

Laurens County deputies made 29 arrests Saturday, July 25, during an illegal street takeover in the area of Mountville Road and White Plains Road, an event that had been widely promoted online in advance.

Deputies observed individuals standing in the roadway while multiple ATVs, cars and sport bikes performed drag racing, stunt maneuvers, burnouts and doughnuts. The roadway was completely blocked and shut down.

Street takeovers became a specific criminal offense in South Carolina this year. The Roadway Protection and Safety Act, signed into law May 15 as Act 148 of 2026, added Section 56-5-3910 to state law and makes it unlawful to participate in, organize, or aid and abet a street takeover. The law defines a street takeover as the unauthorized, deliberate and coordinated obstruction of a roadway, intersection, public vehicular area or parking lot for illegal vehicle exhibitions such as burnouts, drifting, doughnuts, speed contests and wheelies.

Penalties escalate with a person’s role and history. A participant or organizer faces up to $500 and as much as a year in jail for a first offense, and up to $3,000 and three years for a second or subsequent offense. Aiders and abettors, including those who block roads or direct vehicles, face up to $100 and 30 days for a first offense. Additional penalties apply for fleeing an officer, endangering pedestrians or other drivers, causing injury or causing a death. The law also requires that vehicles used in a takeover be seized, and vehicles used by anyone convicted under the section are forfeited to the law enforcement agency that filed the charges.

Lawmakers passed the legislation to curb a trend that has spread across the Southeast, in which coordinated groups block intersections, highways and commercial parking lots for reckless driving exhibitions. The measure cleared the House 102-0 and the Senate 46-0.

A word of advice for anyone considering the next one: posting a public invitation to illegal activity is not a strategy that tends to end well.

Street takeovers are not entertainment. They are dangerous. Impeding traffic, encouraging reckless behavior and turning public roads into a playground sets the scene for someone to get seriously hurt, and it is now against state law.

What is more notable is that several of those arrested do not live in Mountville, and several live outside Laurens County entirely. They traveled here to block roadways, create hazardous conditions for motorists and residents, and put themselves and everyone around them at unnecessary risk.

“Our deputies will continue to respond to these events and hold those responsible accountable,” Laurens County Sheriff Don Reynolds said. “Public roadways are not for reckless stunts. Think twice before making the drive to Laurens County to participate in something that ends with blue lights and jail.”