The flyer that made the rounds said “respect the lot, no littering,” but Barrie police say the most recent unsanctioned truck rally was anything but respectful.
Saturday night's gathering at Georgian Mall on Bayfield Street saw upwards of 500 people and 150 trucks descend on the north side of the parking lot near the site of the former Sears store.
The rally of mainly pickup trucks and some motorcycles congregated shortly after 6 p.m.
Barrie police say it "quickly evolved into a chaotic scene of disrespect and total disregard for private property" as a number of trucks, some of which were trailered to the parking lot area, began to do what is referred to brake stands, burnouts and peel-outs.
This created "large plumes of smoke as burning rubber quickly filled the air and left visible marks on the parking lot surface."
Barrie police communications co-ordinator Peter Leon said he went by the event just before midnight and couldn't believe what he saw.
“The plumes of smoke coming across Bayfield Street were very intense. I just don’t see the reason why people need to partake in this,” he said. “The marks were left behind the next day and it's disrespectful.
"No one wants this to happen here — these people are not welcome. It does have a chance to be a recipe for disaster," Leon added.
Leon said there were 10 charges laid under the Highway Traffic Act as some drivers left the parking lot, which included unnecessary noise and no muffler on a vehicle.
Police say participants and curious onlookers arrived from destinations as far away as Muskoka, Durham Region and parts of the Greater Toronto Area.
The event was similar to the one that occurred on May 6 in the Bayfield Mall parking lot, just down the street near Highway 400. That event had about 600 vehicles there and upwards of 700 people in attendance. There were just over two dozen Highway Traffic Act charges laid and one vehicle seized for stunt driving on Bayfield Street.
When asked what exactly police can do and why more charges weren’t laid, Leon said it comes down to safety and resources.
“Unfortunately, there isn't a lot we can do as it is being done on private property," he said. "We can lay charges, as we did, for Highway Traffic Act offences, but we are limited.
"It comes down to a matter of safety. There are about 500 people there and our officers have to provide a measured response to keep themselves safe,” Leon added. “Also, it ties up resources that we need on what is typically a busy day in Barrie.”
Leon said there was also alcohol and cannabis being consumed, but reiterated that police couldn't have a safe, measured response to deal with those infractions.
The sad part, he said, is it may come down to property owners using their financial resources to gate up areas, but also admits he knows that isn’t logistically possible.
When asked if police have thought about what happens when a property owner takes matters in their own hands, Leon said he hopes it doesn't come to that.
“It's entirely possible that could happen, but we certainly don’t want that to happen in our community,” he said. “There may be a need to start communication between property owners in the city of Barrie where these things could take place.”
Leon said that throughout the night, onlookers were seen climbing onto nearby construction equipment and some people were seen observing from the roof of the mall.
The unauthorized event concluded shortly after midnight with trucks and attendees eventually leaving the area.
Although no one was injured, a release by city police said the careless actions of many involved could have resulted in serious injuries as officers observed not only the dangerous activity of the pickup truck drivers, but there were also a number of dirt bikes being operated by people without helmets.
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