Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — Nearly 80 people were cited and their pocket bikes and minibikes were impounded after Los Angeles police boxed in participants during a planned takeover on the Sixth Street Bridge Sept. 13.
The operation unfolded around 2 p.m. near Sixth Street and Boyle Avenue after police received information that a large gathering of minibike riders was going to take place on the bridge, according to LAPD Sgt. Robert Leary of the department’s Street Racing Task Force.
Leary said police assembled a team and blocked in the riders, allowing officers to get them off their bikes and take them into custody without incident.
There were about 75 to 80 participants, according to Leary.
“We consider the citation an arrest,” Leary said, adding that there were as many as 78 misdemeanor arrests for illegally operating the bikes on city streets, and 78 vehicles impounded and expected to be held for at least 48 hours.
Some of those cited were juveniles. Their parents were notified and were summoned to come and take custody of them, according to Leary.
Police also impounded two trucks for 30 days for allegedly aiding and abetting the takeover. Leary said those vehicles had been used to help conceal items for minors participating in the gathering.
No injuries were reported during the operation, according to Leary.
The incident followed a similar event the previous weekend when authorities swarmed a street takeover in the Harbor Gateway area and issued 570 citations.
A week before that deputies assigned to the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station and California Highway Patrol officers broke up a street takeover at Olympic Boulevard and Downey Road in East Los Angeles involving approximately 100 vehicles, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The Los Angeles City Council has called for a report on available and additional enforcement tools necessary to crack down on street takeovers.
Law enforcement officials consider street takeovers illegal gatherings involving reckless driving, excessive speeding, burnouts, blocked roadways and other dangerous activity. Takeovers often result in significant damage to public infrastructure and create costs to taxpayers for any repairs.
“Over the past year, we have seen an increase in other criminal activity related to the takeovers, such as robberies, shootings, assault with deadly weapons, looting, and most recently, the removal of fire hydrants next to the intersections,” Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Mark Green told the City Council Sept. 8.
“We are also looking at identifying organizers of these events and working with the City Attorney’s Office and the District Attorney’s Office to see if we can hold those people accountable.”
