‘It’s like that every weekend.’ Police bust another Tri-Cities parking lot party

More than 100 people — most without masks — milled around in a Kennewick parking lot last Saturday risking the community’s health and endangering drivers and pedestrians, police said.

Kennewick police shared a video Thursday of the crowded lot at the Highlands Center on the corner of Clearwater Avenue and Highway 395.

The 30-second clip shows cars filling the parking spots and dozens of people standing around.

The sound of car engines revving drowns out the blaring music in the background.

“Shown in this video is an example of a disregard for public safety, both from a traffic safety standpoint and a public health standpoint,” Kennewick police said in the Facebook post. “In the video, we can see well over 100 people gathering in a public space with no visible face coverings,”

What isn’t visible are the people spinning doughnuts, burning their tires and other reckless driving in the lot near Gold’s Gym and on surrounding streets surrounding, said police.

Officers from several agencies cleared out the lot at 10:30 p.m., but as they were moving people out one car made several circles in the parking lot before speeding away on Highway 395.

The driver, Kafaya Bugal, 22, ran a stop sign, nearly hit a pedestrian and was later arrested, said police.

“We are striving to educate first. If you are involved in these rallies, please understand these concerns and avoid them,” Kennewick police said on Facebook.

Police are working with local businesses to get them to limit access to their parking lots, so they can prevent people from getting hurt.

Kennewick officers along with neighboring agencies will be increasing patrols and will take enforcement action when needed, they said.

The message was met with mixed comments on Facebook.

“It’s like that every weekend,” said one person. “They race back and forth over the bridges and now down to Columbia Park towards Fruitland cause they know the police hardly patrol in that area. I’d be more worried about the danger they put others in racing on the roads then them catching this covid crap.”

Others felt like the police were unfairly singling out what they saw was a peaceful gathering of people having fun, similar to recent Black Lives Matter protest rallies.

However, officials have noted face coverings were commonly worn at those demonstrations.

This story was originally published August 13, 2020 at 4:55 PM.