Police arrest organizer as thousands take over street for stunt riding in Connecticut

The arrest was the culmination of a showdown that had been building between the city government and police in New Haven and the group of stunt riders known as Eastcoastin. For the past five years, the group's annual end-of-the-summer gathering has grown in popularity, and last year an estimated 10,000 riders showed up as people starved for activities came out for the event despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year, police tried to contain the event rather than try to stop it. This year, the city took a different approach. The mayor held a press conference last week telling people to stay away because the event did not have a permit.

The Eastcoastin leaders responded with their own press conference the same day and complained they never got any cooperation from the city administration in trying to get approval for the event. City officials responded that Eastcoastin hadn't followed the procedures for getting a permit to shut down public streets.

In the final days before the event, Eastcoastin posted on Instagram that the event would go on but participants were told "come at your own risk."

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For much of Saturday, the event grew as usual, with crowds watching impromptu stunt performances while vendors sold T-shirts, food and beer. But once the crowd spilled out of private parking lots and took over Waterfront Street, closing it to other traffic, police moved in (seen in the video below at the 28:30 mark), said Interim Police Chief Renee Dominguez.

Dominguez said Gabe Canestri, Jr., one of the Eastcoastin founders, was charged with inciting a riot and second-degree breach of the peace. Two other people were also arrested. Several motorcycles were reportedly seized for violations.

One of the concerns highlighted by the police department was that Waterfront Street, where the crowds took over, is next to the port where a lot of petroleum products are offloaded. Videos show tanker trucks trying to inch through the crowds walking down the street in the hours before police moved in.

The Saturday showdown came at the end of an unusual week for New Haven police, just a day after the funeral for Officer Josh Castellano, who was killed in a car crash in Las Vegas. In that incident, another New Haven officer was driving — allegedly while under the influence of alcohol — and crashed, killing Castellano.