"Sideshow" Driver Crashes, Destroys Home

Ruins after vehicle crash

At 4:30 a.m. Saturday, April 12, 2008, the Tupa family, asleep in their home at 2040 90th Avenue, were awakened by the crash of a vehicle into their house. The car hit the gas line, causing an explosion under their house, which was set on fire and destroyed.

A participant in a nearby "sideshow" of reckless driving lost control, and his vehicle broke through the chain link fence. The resident Tupa family suffered no loss of life when the roof collapsed into the structure, but they lost almost all their possessions as well as their home.

The fire department arrived promptly and fought the flames but was unable to turn off the broken gas line. It took some time for PG&E to be summoned to turn off gas supply at another valve.

According to the Oakland Tribune, one of two sideshow cars having a race on 90th Ave. lost control and crashed into the house.

Meanwhile, a Berkeley Daily Planet columnist criticized ORPN co-founder Charles Pine, an advocate of adequate police staffing so that officers can stop sideshows among other things, for alleged failure to understand sideshows as an expression of cultural diversity.