Police: Illegal dirt bikes, ATVs seized from business in Northwest Baltimore
BALTIMORE -- Police seized more than a dozen illegal dirt bikes and ATVs from a business in Northwest Baltimore on Monday—marking the second time officers have executed a warrant at the business for illegal activity in 2023.
Members of the Mobile Metro Unit raided Aneto Auto Service around 10:30 a.m. and found 15 illegal dirt bikes at the business, according to authorities.
"The 15 dirt bikes that we seized yesterday—one of the dirt bikes were confirmed stolen in a carjacking back in August of this year," BPD Mobile Metro Unit Det. David Jones said.
Officers executed a search and seizure warrant in the 5300 block of Park Heights Avenue shortly after 10:30 a.m. There, police seized 15 dirt bikes, ATVs, and other evidence.
During the investigation, officers obtained surveillance video and a search warrant.
Officers seized 33 dirt bikes from the same location in June 2023.
Detectives say they have been monitoring Aneto Auto Service through the Baltimore Police Department's CityWatch cameras.
They have observed multiple people going in and out of the business with dirt bikes, according to authorities.
That's what led a judge to grant officers a warrant on both occasions, police said.
WJZ's Stephon Dingle tried to speak to the owner of the auto service, but that person was unavailable.
A man who spoke to Dingle off-camera said that the 15 dirt bikes that were confiscated by police were being worked on and not illegal.
The problems at Aneto Auto Service go even deeper than dirt bike confiscation, though.
Baltimore's fire marshal placed a cease and desist order on the front of the business in September 2021 because the business was deemed to be operating under unsafe conditions and lacked a proper permit.
As of Monday, the auto service was still unlicensed, according to Jones.
But a cease-and-desist order and two police raids within the past two years hasn't stopped the auto service from operating.
"So, now it's to a point where we will charge them with a criminal summons," Jones said. "And then the next step, if it continues, there will be physical arrests that will have to be made at that point."
Charges are pending against the owner of the business following the latest raid.
This year, officers have seized 168 illegal dirt bikes and ATVs in Baltimore City.
Some people see dirt bikes as a public nuisance, but other people see dirt bike riders doing wheelies on the streets as a cultural staple of Charm City.
Maryland lawmakers have been trying to pave the way for a dirt bike campus in Baltimore. They plan to spend nearly $3 million on the campus.
If you know of anyone who is illegally riding and/or storing dirt bikes in Baltimore City, contact the Dirt Bike Tip Line at 443-902-4474.