Unsanctioned Car Rally In Montco Might Have Connections To NJ Rally

ABINGTON, PA — Police in this eastern Montgomery County community are looking into a possible link between an unsanctioned late-night car rally this weekend at the Willow Grove Park Mall and a similar illegal vehicle rally at a New Jersey shore town recently that left two people dead.

The Abington Township Police Department said that between 150 to 200 vehicles descended upon the lower-level parking lot of the Willow Grove Park Mall just after 12:30 a.m. Sunday, where drivers were performing dangerous maneuvers and causing a loud disturbance in the area.

Police officers were called out to the scene, and drivers eventually dispersed, but not before at least one serious accident occurred on a nearby street a short time later.

One individual had to be extricated from that vehicle, police previously said.

Related: Serious Vehicle Crash Following Illegal Montco Car Rally: Cops

Now, Abington investigators are wondering whether there is any connection to a so-called H2oi rally that took place in Wildwood, N.J. in late September in which two people were killed.

Related: Outrage After 2 Killed In Unsanctioned Jersey Shore Car Rally

A man from Pittsburgh ended up being criminally charged in connection with the deaths.

CBS Philly this week aired police body cam and dashcam footage that showed Abington officers arriving at the scene of the rally.

In the television report, Abington Police Chief Pat Molloy told a reporter that his department believes there might be overlap in members of the Abington car rally and the deadly one in neighboring New Jersey from last month.

"We believe there were members of this group who were also in attendance in Wildwood on that weekend," Molloy states.

Patch followed up with Abington Police to get confirmation of whether or not investigators believe there might be a more formal connection, or perhaps just a loose affiliation.

"We're still investigating. There may be a loose connection," Deputy Police Chief Ed Quinn told Patch. "We're still connecting intelligence."

Quinn said this is the first time his township has "dealt with this type of dynamic," having never heard of the H2oi car group previously.

According to a report on NJ.com, H2oi seems to have started as an unsanctioned car rally in Ocean City, Maryland that involved drag racing, drinking and the gathering of large crowds being generally rowdy.

A similar event in Maryland back in 2019 was described by officials as causing the town to be "under siege" due to the sheer magnitude of the attendees.