Police Admit They Can't Do Much To Stop Dirt Bikers Tearing Up San Francisco City Streets
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Dirt bike riders have been tearing up the streets of San Francisco pulling dangerous stunts caught on camera, and posted online, and police admit they can't do much to stop it.
Their bikes are not street legal and neither are their wheelies and burnouts. They've hit busy areas along the Haight Ashbury area, and put on quite a dangerous show in tourist hotspots like Fisherman's Wharf.
A recent video of the bikers was taken right in front of this store where tourists shop.
"It puts a lot of people in danger when they are out here," a shopkeeper told KPIX 5.
So where are the cops?
"Our pursuit policy is very restrictive," Albie Esparza of the San Francisco Police said.
Officers are under orders not to chase the bikers through city streets, because it's too dangerous.
Police have been forced to track the bikers in other ways.
"By having license a plate. We can backtrack and eventually make an arrest," Esparza said.
SFPD says they are reviewing video, some provided by the bikers themselves posted on YouTube, and say it's only a matter of time before someone is caught.
"The message is this, 'we will find you eventually. It's not worth the risk. Urban cities are not the place," Esparza said.