Oakland’s beloved First Friday street celebration turned into a chaotic scene in the early hours of Saturday morning when a series of street brawls spilled over into something far more dangerous. A car drove directly onto a sidewalk and struck multiple pedestrians, sending seven people to the hospital and leaving a neighborhood community asking some hard questions.
The incident unfolded around 1:30 a.m. near Telegraph Avenue and 18th Street, putting Oakland police officers in the thick of a night that escalated quickly. What started as reports of a fight became a multi-victim vehicle collision within minutes, all of it captured on social media video that would circulate widely by morning.
Oakland’s First Friday event is one of the city’s most cherished monthly traditions, drawing thousands of residents and visitors to Telegraph Avenue for food, music, art, and community. The official event runs from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. between 22nd and 27th streets, and by all accounts, Saturday’s sanctioned celebration wrapped up peacefully. The violence happened hours later, several blocks away, well outside the event’s footprint…