Baltimore Road Shutdown To Deter Weekly Dirt Bike Gathering
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—Police in North West Baltimore were in large numbers on Sunday afternoon, near the area where thousands of dirt bikers gathered just a week ago.
On Sunday, police asked for the public's patience around Druid Hill Park, where officers, along with a barricaded setup, were present on Reisterstown Road.
City officials are still trying to come up with a long term solution, but for now the plan is to slow down traffic and calm tensions.
Speeding. Daredevil tricks often without headlights in the dark. For years, crowds have been coming to the Park Heights neighborhood to ride or watch dirt bikes.
Last Sunday, officers who were seen dressed in riot gear descended on NW Baltimore to shutdown thousands of dirt bikers forming near the 3300 block of Reisterstown Road.
The dirt bikers are known to gather in this area weekly, but officers decided to step in when the dirt bikers started posing a threat to the community.
"We can't have the dirt bike riders just randomly violating the law out here on Sunday afternoons. The community has spoken up," said TJ Smith, of the Baltimore Police Department.
No one was injured during last week's incident, but police say people begin pelting officers with rocks and objects as authorities demanded the crowd to break up and leave the area.
While on the scene, an officer, who is now on administrative leave, can be seen in a photo obtained by WJZ pointing his gun into the crowd. The officer apparently drew his weapon when someone threw a glass bottle toward the group of officers. The case against the officer remains under investigation.
This weekend, Baltimore police use a traffic-calming approach to ease the tensions.
City leaders and the community came together earlier this week in hopes to find a solution for these dirt bikers.
Toya Graham, who made headlines for snatching her son during the Baltimore riots, is also getting involved and hoping to find a safe place for the dirt biers to ride.
"I'm trying to help the mayor. I'm trying to find some way for these guys to go ride," said Graham.
The mayor says she wants to meet with dirt bikers to find a real world solution. Toya Graham and her son say they're on board for the ride.
The family Allison Blanding is also hoping the city finds a safe place for them to ride. Blanding was struck and killed by a dirt bike in Ma. Detectives continue to search for clues in the case.
"Success would be justice for my sister. Success would be a place where we can safely ride, that would be success; sponsored by the city," said Lorren Hayman, god sister of Allison.
As the debate continues where dirt bikers should go, it's clear they won't be gathering along Reisterstown Road on Sunday nights.
According to authorities, a majority of these dirt bikes are stolen and encourage people to report them when spotted.
