Cruise Control : Hawthorne Tries to Drive Youths Out of Town

When Hawthorne Police Sgt. Robert Cooper first heard that cruisers were once again gathering along Hawthorne Boulevard, he was decidedly reluctant to crack down on their fun.

As a teen-ager, he used to cruise with the best of them along the same street made famous by the Beach Boys--to see the hot rods, to race cars and to pick up girls. Remembering the old A & W root beer stand, where cruisers once gathered, and the Wichstand, a drive-in restaurant where his friends later would meet, the veteran police officer felt nostalgic.

After a gang-related shooting in Lawndale during cruising hours last month, he decided that the innocent amusement of his youth had become too dangerous to go unchecked. Cooper, a supervisor in the traffic division, now sends extra patrol officers to Hawthorne Boulevard on cruising nights in an attempt to drive the cruisers out of town.

“The people coming around, probably 90% of them are just regular ol’ kids not really out to do much of anything,” Cooper said. “But the city just can’t let it go on and let all those folks who like to shoot up the town come in and have target practice. We’re kind of in the situation that if we don’t go out and discourage them, violence will escalate.”

Hawthorne’s cruising revival began about two months ago when several hundred cruisers from as far away as Whittier and the San Fernando Valley suddenly rediscovered Hawthorne Boulevard. Many of them came in response to a crackdown in Redondo Beach, where police have been enforcing ordinances against loud music.

Troy Staehler, 18, of Torrance said he and other members of the Rollerz Only car and truck club deserve credit for the revival. Two months ago, Rollerz Only members handed out about 10,000 flyers that named Hawthorne Boulevard as the new cruising hot spot on Tuesday nights, Staehler said.

“We got the idea from our parents because they said they used to cruise Hawthorne back in the ‘60s when they had their little race cars,” Staehler said.

The cruisers usually meet about 8 p.m. at the Burger King on Hawthorne Boulevard at Rosecrans Avenue before driving to Carl’s Jr. or 7-Eleven. They rarely race, but almost always blare rap music from their cars, Staehler said.

At first, police said, the cruising appeared harmless. Although the extra cars caused some gridlock problems, “We thought, what the heck, the kids have to have something to do and some place to go so we’re not going to lose sleep over it,” Cooper said.

Within a few weeks the complaints became more serious, and it became clear that gang members were also showing up for the festivities.

Tensions erupted last month when a suspected gang member was shot during a brawl in the parking lot of a restaurant on Hawthorne Boulevard. The victim is recovering from his wounds. Prosecutors have decided that his attacker was acting in self-defense and will not press charges, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Kwan said.

To prevent clashes between gang members and cruisers, and to ensure that no bystanders are caught in the cross-fire, police and gang counselors have started to discourage cruisers from coming into the city.

In the last few weeks, police have been enforcing traffic laws and issuing citations to cruisers whose cars are too low. Cars cited more than once for unsafe driving conditions have been towed away, Cooper said.

Despite the potential dangers, Staehler said members of his club are determined to keep cruising, and they plan to distribute more flyers. Law enforcement officials said they hate to put a damper on the cruisers’ fun but the hazards of gang activity leave them with no choice.

“It’s just not good, clean fun anymore,” Cooper said. “While most of the people view it that way, we have enough of the undesirable element that thinks, ‘Hey, let’s go shoot ‘em up.’ Unfortunately, everyone is going to have to suffer because we don’t need a bunch of dead kids in our city.”