WATCH: Southlake DPS Wants ID Of Brake-Checking Biker In Group Doing Stunts
SOUTHLAKE (CBSDFW.COM) — Southlake Police say they are trying to identify and will pursue criminal charges against two bikers the department says endangered one of their motorcycle officers.
It happened last Saturday along State Highway 114 when police say their officer tried to conduct a traffic stop of the driver of a Chevy Tahoe recording video of a group of 50 to 100 bikers popping wheelies, standing on seats, and performing other stunts.
Police say a video from the officer's motorcycle shows a biker swerved toward the officer and brake-checked him to keep him from stopping the Tahoe.
Spokesman Brad Uptmore said, "A second biker comes up and feigns like he's going to rip into him, to the point the officer's like whoa, had to life up his leg to make sure he wasn't going to crash into him."
That second biker can be seen in a video posted online by K Three Entertainment, along with numerous other stunts.
Uptmore said the officer maintained control and finished the traffic stop. "We don't understand how our officer was able to hold onto the handle-bars and not wreck out there like that. They're super-trained at what they do so thank goodness that training kicked-in."
The officer gave the Tahoe driver a ticket for impeding traffic and a warning for his windows' dark tint.
Uptmore said the officer didn't pursue the bikers in question at that moment. "The last thing we would want to do is endanger them, the public, or ourselves with a vehicle that could go up to 150 miles per hour. Whenever you see someone brake-check an officer in the middle of a traffic stop, in the middle of a freeway, in our experience they're not going to stop for us."
The video has many people commenting on the Southlake Department of Public Safety's Facebook page.
Some people defended the bikers say they're just having fun, while many others strongly disagreed with the bikers' stunts.
Uptmore agreed the bikers put others, including their officer, at risk. "I understand that's fun, exciting, thrilling, but you're putting yourself and a lot of people in danger. In this instance, it was our officer. Tomorrow, it could be grandma or grandpa, or a new 16 year old driver who doesn't know how to handle that type of situation."
CBS 11 emailed K Three Entertainment seeking comment, but has haven't heard back.