“Bring all your rigs and bikes and full send it – put Logan on the map.”
That was the message shared by locals on social media, inviting like-minded fans of Australian rapper and influencer Spanian to a ‘meet and greet’ on Bourke Street at Waterford West on Saturday 9 March.
Locals say the day was intended to be a memorial of Jai Anderson, a 17-year-old who was killed in a hit-and-run just over a year ago on the same road.
But once news of Spanian’s arrival in Logan spread, the intensity turned up a notch.
It’s predicted more than 350 people flooded the 800m street, leaving it covered in skid marks, graffiti and rubbish that remain a week later.
Police called it an “out of control”, large-scale hooning event.
Spanian was filming a vlog for his popular Youtube series “Into the Hood”, which documents the rapper as he travels to the world’s “most dangerous hoods”.
Logan was next on his list.
In the lead-up to the anniversary of Jai Anderson’s death on 4 March, Bourke Street residents reported increased hooning behaviour.
“It was all night every night, all day every day,” local Sharyn Crawford said.
Once Ms Crawford learned Spanian was coming, she even warned police.
The meet-and-greet was supposed to last an hour, finishing at 2.30pm.
Ms Crawford said it didn’t start “dying down” until 4pm.
“I had a support worker here for my disabled daughter, who was leaving just as it was all starting, and she said she was lucky to get out of the street,” Ms Crawford said.
“People couldn’t leave.”
She described the event as “loud, busy and scary”.
“I’m sitting here in the house, and I’m choking on the fumes and the smell of burning rubber,” she said.
“It was coming into the house.
“I’m hearing cheering, carrying on, swearing, sirens everywhere – the whole works.”
Ms Crawford said Bourke Street was packed “wall-to-wall” with people.
“You had 350 people in that street doing wheelies and hooning and carrying on, and laughing because police were in their cars and couldn’t touch them,” she said.
“Police couldn’t even move because there were too many people.
“I’m a single woman, with a severely disabled daughter – it’s scary.”
Some other residents MyCity Logan spoke to described what happened as “just kids having fun”.
But Logan police warned on the seriousness of mass hooning events.
“These activities are not just reckless; they disturb and endanger the lives of the community and cause significant property damage,” superintendent Mark Thompson said.
“This behaviour will not be tolerated, and those responsible will be held accountable.”
So far, 18 people have been charged with over 50 offences in relation to the incident; ranging from serious assault police, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, and evading police.
Some were charged with drug possession, hooning, and entering a premises with “intent to commit [an] indictable offence”.
