Renewed calls for Philadelphia officials to crack down on dirt bikes, ATVs
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Tuesday morning, there are renewed calls for Philadelphia officials to crack down on dirt bikes and ATVs after police release new surveillance video of Sunday night's events. Over the weekend, illegal vehicles swarmed the streets of Center City and other neighborhoods.
The calls come after several violent incidents happened over the weekend, including a shooting involving an ATV rider.
Yet, city leaders are at odds over what can be done about them.
A large group of dirt bike and ATV riders took over Columbus Boulevard over the weekend.
Officials say Sunday night, riders surrounded an unoccupied police patrol unit and smashed its windows.
Republican Councilman David Oh says police are not engaging with the riders because of requests from mayor Jim Kenney.
Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Mayor's Office says police have successfully confiscated hundreds of dirt bikes, ATVs and scooters and will continue confiscating and ticketing them.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner says his office will move forward with charges as they are presented, but the arrests have to be done sensibly.
"It is not sensible to act like we can have high-speed chases with police cars chasing kids on unregistered motorbikes without running over pedestrians," Krasner said. "We support (the police) 100% in that activity, work with them all the time and to that extent, they are able to make arrests."
A Philadelphia Police Department spokesperson said its best tool in all of this is trying to keep these groups from getting together in large numbers.
