Four more people arrested for massive car meetup that caused mayhem, dubbed ‘Project X’

Four people have been charged in a series of massive and chaotic car meetups that swept through Philadelphia in late September, drawing unruly crowds of hundreds of spectators, damaging cars, and leaving police officers frustrated and in some cases injured, police said.

Among those arrested was Joseph Cavanaugh, 21, of Levittown, who police said was the top organizer of the sprawling series of illegal car meetups dubbed Project X that ran late night Sept. 21 into early morning Sept. 22, said Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore. Juawarn Williams, 21, of Rosedale, Md., who filmed much of the night’s events using a drone and high-tech goggles, profiting off the viral footage, also was arrested, along with James Hare, 20, and David French, 21, both of Philadelphia.

All four men face charges of conspiracy, causing and risking catastrophe, and related crimes, police said. Cavanaugh and Hare are out on bail, according to court records. French and Williams are still in custody, court records show.

In all, nine people have been charged in connection with the meetups so far, and more arrests are expected, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said Friday. Standing in front of some of the sports cars police say were driven during the meetups and were later impounded, Bethel pledged at a news conference to continue aggressively move against meetups as they pop up in the city.

“We’re not playing today, tomorrow, or under my tenure and I know the mayor’s tenure,” he said.

Authorities said the meetups in September, which included people drag racing, doing doughnuts, and exploding fireworks, spread across the city, with at least 11 events from the Northeast to Southwest to right outside City Hall.

Cavanaugh organized Project X over Instagram, selling the list of 11 to 13 locations for the illegal meetups to interested users, said Police Inspector Raymond Evers. Through his social media account, Cavanaugh called on people from Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland to join in, Evers said.

Over a span of more than seven hours, police chased after groups as they tried to disperse the crowds in what they described as a game of “whack-a-mole,” arriving at a location just as the crowd moved to another spot.

In some cases, including in front of City Hall, responding officers were outnumbered by the crowds. Videos on social media in one instance showed dozens of people surrounding an officer’s car and jumping onto the hood while filming themselves.

From street level, Williams, using goggles to see through the lens of a camera mounted on a drone, piloted the device over many of the meetups, filming footage he would later post on social media, said Evers.

In video footage on social media, some people can be seen throwing traffic cones at the patrol car’s windshield and even opening its rear door. One video shows a group of officers with batons running through smoke-filled streets as people scattered in different directions.

Five police cars were damaged through the night, police said, and one 39th District officer suffered minor injuries after his vehicle was struck by another car, which then fled the scene.

Police said 15 spectators were cited and nine were fined under the city’s nuisance car ordinance — which carries a $2,500 penalty — in Southwest Philadelphia.

The meetups, also known as “slide shows” or “takeovers,” come together quickly through social media and involve waves of cars and large crowds of spectators moving from location to location on short notice. They are not new to Philadelphia or other parts of the country, but the September series of events was on a larger scale than what police normally have to deal with, authorities said.

In June 2023, one series of meetups ended in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Anthony Allegrini by a Pennsylvania state trooper. Authorities said Allegrini struck two troopers with his Audi S4 and one of the troopers fired a shot through the windshield, striking Allegrini.

Authorities have not named the trooper who killed Allegrini and no charges have been filed as the investigation continues. Allegrini’s family has sued the Pennsylvania State Police, Philadelphia police officers who responded to the scene, and the trooper who killed Allegrini, alleging he used excessive force and did not render potentially lifesaving aid.

The continuing arrests in the September meetups, Bethel said, are part of a concentrated police effort to crack down on the illegal and often dangerous events and combating quality of life crimes in the city such as illegal ATVs and dirt bikes.