Gilroy police have seized several cars that were involved in a massive sideshow — including nearly 500 vehicles and hundreds of observers — in a Target parking lot earlier this month, officials said Thursday.

Drivers in the Oct. 11 sideshow were spinning doughnuts, doing “burnouts” and driving recklessly during normal business hours at the Target and other nearby stores, Gilroy police said.

“This activity was very dangerous to the hundreds of people standing in the parking lot as spectators, and to the many patrons of the retail stores, which were open for business,” police wrote in a Facebook post about the incident.

Photos released by the department show sports cars driving in the parking lot at night with circular skid marks on the pavement and crowds pressing close to watch and take videos with their phones.

Other photos show seven of those cars on tow trucks after police seized them.

Police are “aggressively investigating” sideshows like these, police said. The Gilroy Police Department obtained numerous court orders from Santa Clara County Superior Court to seize vehicles in Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties that were allegedly involved in the incident.

Police are pursuing more seizure orders and arrest warrants in connection with the case.

Anna Bauman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: anna.bauman@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @abauman2