SAN JOSE — A San Jose police officer was hit and injured by a fleeing car Sunday night while taking part in a multi-agency crackdown on street racing and sideshows.

The officer was out of his patrol car and attempting a traffic stop for reckless driving on Hostetter Road near Interstate 680 when he was hit, San Jose police Sgt. Enrique Garcia said. The officer was treated at a local hospital and released.

Police say the driver who hit the officer fled the scene and has not been identified or arrested.

“It was a deliberate act,” Garcia said. “This guy ran into one of our officers and fled the scene.”

Police are asking for the public’s help in locating the driver, who was behind the wheel of a maroon or brown two-door Nissan 240SXE coupe.

The collision occurred amid a crackdown of sideshows and street racing in multiple areas of San Jose by several South Bay law-enforcement agencies, including the San Jose and Morgan Hill police departments, the California Highway Patrol and the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.

Police in San Jose and Morgan Hill contend there has been a spike in dangerous driving in recent months, including street racing and sideshows that primarily featured cars performing doughnuts — high-speed spinning maneuvers — on city thoroughfares.

“It’s a very organized event,” Garcia said. “Whoever is organizing it uses social media platforms as a way of advertising. That’s how they’re able to get so many people.”

Hundreds of people were involved in Sunday night’s sideshow.

Four people were arrested for reckless driving and outstanding warrants, Garcia said. Two citations were issued and five vehicles were impounded.

Officers also responded to reports of streets racers and sideshows in the area of Tully Road and Capitol Expressway as well as Aborn Road and Capitol Expressway, according to NBC Bay Area.

The weekend’s enforcement comes a week after a similar operation in San Jose and Morgan Hill, during which a San Jose patrol car had its rear window shattered and its body dented while entering the scene of a sideshow on Old Bayshore Highway.

Garcia notes the dangers not only to those involved in racing or sideshows, but added pedestrians are also at risk.

In October of 2015, three teens riding in a stolen car were killed while racing against another car down Santa Clara Street.

In 2009, a 20-year-old San Jose woman driving along Branham Lane was caught in the middle of a street race and died when one of the speeding drivers crashed into her.

In 2011, a 23-year-old San Jose woman died from injuries suffered when a Mercedes smashed into her car on Kiely Boulevard in Santa Clara. The driver of the Mercedes was racing another car, and their speeds hit 80 mph, according to police.

“If you’re considering coming to the South Bay to participate, you better think twice,” Garcia said. “Because there’s going to be a huge emphasis on enforcement.”

Staff writer Robert Salonga contributed to this report.