Last week, a group of violent dirt bike and ATV drivers was caught on video in Philadelphia throwing bottles and bricks at police officers before fleeing the scene.
The Philadelphia Police Department released video footage last Tuesday showing “a large group of people riding dirt bikes and ATVs” around a gas station at Delaware Avenue and SpringGarden Street. According to Philly police, a dirt bike rider initially crashed near the gas pumps at the station and ran off. Investigators later discovered the dirt bike had been stolen from New Jersey. After the crash, the scene devolved further.
According to police, officers attempting to secure the stolen dirt bike were set upon by a crowd that began circling the officers, throwing bricks, bottles, and other objects at them. One of the marked police cars was repeatedly kicked and the windshield was smashed by a brick before the group fled the scene.
The video footage chronicles the chaos, with one ATV driver doing donuts near the gas pumps as a rider on a dirt bike hurls something at a police car.
Watch HERE. Assault on Police 600 N Delaware Ave DC 22 06 044110 – YouTube
Just one day before the melee, Republican City Councilman at-large, David Oh, responded to a different video showing hordes of dirt bike and ATV riders in the city, saying “This has to stop.” Councilman Oh said police have been instructed by Democrat Mayor Jim Kenney’s office “not to enforce the law.” He said the lack of law enforcement has resulted in an escalating problem with “reckless driving, no insurance, intentional disregard for public safety, likely possession of illegal firearms & potential violence.”
In a statement to Fox News, a spokesman for the mayor’s office said Councilman Oh’s accusations were “simply untrue,” adding Mayor Kenney’s office welcomes Oh’s suggestions on how to “address this behavior.”
The spokesman claimed pedestrian and motorist safety “is paramount” to the Kenney administration, adding the mayor’s office “takes this issue very seriously.” Operating dirt bikes and ATVs on city streets is illegal in Philadelphia.
