Chaos and mayhem erupted across parts of San Francisco yesterday as hundreds of dirt-bike riders took over streets in the Mission and elsewhere and police appeared unable to intervene.ย
Twitter user and videographer FriscoLive415 posted footage of bikers cruising through Mission Dolores and driving on sidewalks. Local journalist Sergio Quintana showed bikers blocking the F train at Market and Castro streets before a police car arrived to disperse them. Another Twitter user posted a video of a parade of bikes running red lights at Grant Avenue and Bush Street.
On Reddit, a driver said he โalmost got hit head-on,โ and shared footage of bikers driving the wrong way near the Fourth Street bridge.ย
As the evening approached, hundreds of bikers filled the intersection of 23rd and Valencia yesterday for hours, according to witnesses. Around 6 p.m., this reporter came upon cars parked in the Valencia center bike lane and bikes parked throughout the intersection, as individuals did donuts and wheelied up and down the street.
They were still there between 7 and 8 p.m., according to a Twitter thread from Homeless Oversight Commissioner Sharky Laguana, when a โcat-and-mouse gameโ began, in which police would arrive to shoo off the bikers, who would take a lap around the block and return.ย
โOur officers observed several of the individuals commit vehicle violations,โ said Officer Robert Rueca, a police spokesperson, who said police drones were also used to observe the dirt bikers. โThe department has a plan to address this activity, which includes seizing vehicles when possible, and conducting follow-up investigations to impound vehicles.โ
Rueca said officers have, in the past, used drones โย which the department acquired and began using recently โย to observe suspects on dirt bikes breaking into cars, leading to an arrest and seizure of the vehicles.ย
But police sources told Mission Local that the SFPD drone policy is not yet compatible with tracking live, spontaneous incidents that are moving fluidly. Drones require a trained pilot and spotter, and cannot yet be used to follow movements through the city. Police officers, the source said, cannot use spike strips, roadblocks or other physical intervention methods on two-wheeled vehicles.ย
So on Sunday, residents observed the bikers roam the city with apparent impunity, blocking cars and trains, running red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road. For now, no arrests have been made in response to yesterdayโs incident, though at least one arrest was reported amid similar activity across the Bay.
Dirt bikers are often spotted driving through the city or across the grass of Dolores Park, though they typically appear in far smaller numbers than yesterday. Tensions around the practice have been high since last week, when a video circulated of a dirt biker colliding with a scooter driver on Valencia Street. The dirt biker then punched the scooter driver.
Rueca said no injuries were reported yesterday, but urged anyone with information to contact the SFPD at 415-575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411.
Additional reporting by Joe Eskenazi.
Where were the officers from Mission Station, a mere 6 blocks away (the same officers who were playing Candy Crush on overtime not stopping the Dolores Hill bomb) while motorized vehicles were terrorizing Mission residents?
The problem is not understaffing, not Superior Court judges, not the Police Commission, not the Board of Supervisors.
The problem is the SFPOA that does not feel like officers should be required to provide an honest day’s work for their relatively high levels of pay, that cops can or decline to enforce whatever laws they feel like without consequences irrespective of impact on public safety, and that SF residents are left to suffer the consequences this corrupt rot in law enforcement.
This is because the SFPOA is a consistency that counts politically while San Franciscans are viewed solely as sources for paying taxes that fund the corrupt cavalcade. Further eliminating oversight only consolidates this.
SF needs a local Hatch Act to prevent government employee unions from interfering with local politics.
C’mon, what are cops going to do? Break out the bola wrap?
Guns and violence terrorize people, not wheelie hooligans. Who gives a shit about these dirt bikers? Looks like a leisurely Sunday ride to me.
There was an event for kids at Chase; these cretinous jerks were riding in the sidewalk. Lucky no one was killed. They rode, likely a thousand of them, directly in front of the police hq at 3rd and China Basin. Not a peep. Absurd and pathetic.
What are cops supposed to do? The job that they are paid to do in accordance with their stated priorities.
SFPD is whining about being understaffed and blamethrowing far and wide, so they are going on strike until taxpayers throw more good money at SFPD after bad.
This is not as much about showing outrage at dirt bikers as it is at the almost billion dollar scam that is the SFPD under the SFPOA refuses to work.
Sad/funny that they are asking for tips when all you needed to do was go outside. They were all over the city all day with complete impunity.
The city has a blank press release for all crimes: “We have a plan to deal with this. We watched from a distance. No arrests were made.”
And nothing changes.
Clearly, the Cops need more drone training time.
Why don’t the police use paint ball guns with paint that is hard to remove.
How come the SFPD does not use spike strips on 2 wheeled vehicles.
How are the dirt bikers communicatingocations to assemble. Are they using Telegram or What’s App. The SFPD needs to find out and monitor these sites.
Clearly, if SFPD does not figure out how to deal with this, it is only to going to get worse. SFPD needs to set up a team to figure how to address this problem.
Are the SFPD able to get license plates.
The SFPD needs to have a pay readjustment and pay should be based on solutions and successful prosecutions.
These are unregistered dirt bikes. Follow them home and impound them. They should not be on our roads, nor should they be in the bike lanes. All SFPD needs to do is keep an eye on 23rd and Valencia.
“How come the SFPD does not use spike strips on 2 wheeled vehicles.”
You’re likely to kill the riders with this.
Ricardo,
How about we “celebrate this cultural event” by tossing water balloons at them as they pass the first time and then stink bombs the second and ‘Dealer’s Choice’ on what you load the balloons with from then on ??
C’mon, Ricardo, does that work with you ?
Like Mardi Gras only instead of people on Floats tossing bracelets to you, you toss things to them.
h.
Yup they came down 22nd Street first in both lanes….at least 200 of them zooming down there. I bet that liquor store at 23rd was one of their destinations; it’s been an iffy hang out for many whom I bet are underage for well over a year now……
Yet another consequence of our recent obsession with tying the hands of police as much as possible.
Anarchy is popular with the far left, but most of us want nuisances like this handled.
Police hands aren’t tied, that’s what Breed’s corrupt POA would have you think as an excuse for them not having the budget, staffing, leadership or will to do the job.
Disagree. In recent years police have been prohibited from engaging in chases except in extremely limited circumstances, now pretext stops have also been banned, and it’s impossible for police to do the same job they were doing just ten years ago.
And here is the result.
Thank you police commission, George Gascon, cop-haters, and all the voters who’ve paved a road to Hell with their good intentions.
Campers,
In 71 days the district will have a new Supervisor Elect.
The League of Women Voters San Francisco is having a debate in bit over an hour right on the spot at 1125 Valencia from 6-8pm.
7 candidates and I’m one of em and hope this subject comes up.
At a recent funeral for a past top cop in the mounted patrol a couple of months ago the cops showed up with at least 50 riders on big ole hog cycles and I want to see them on regular patrol under my Valencia Street windows until this crisis is past.
These butts are ‘Owning’ SFPD and I can recall a time when Hells Angels tried the same crap in the 80’s and cops negotiated a deal with them not to wear their ‘colors’ and invade the City with their bikes.
Difference is there is no one to negotiate with here whom the other bikers will listen to or friggin’ die.
Cops should face this head on and corral these outlaws the way they corralled the Skate Boarders.
Get your cameras ready.
‘To Serve and Protect’ ?
Now’s the time to do it.
Go Niners !!
h.
August September October best time of year in SF, kids blowing off steam on dirt bikes OMG ๐ณ
“Defund the Police!” – London “Xi” Breed, 2021
I kind of agree with R Ruiz on this. People find their groups and go out. I happened to walk by a group of motor bikers getting cold beverages ( non alcoholic as far as I could see) and heard a participant wondering where they could go to the bathroom. I wanted more of them to wear helmets but otherwise was not put out by waiting a minute for kids to show off. Adults are giving them nothing to do with this energy, what do you expect?
“Thousands of kids just being kids, taking over bridges and highways and driving the wrong way and on sidewalks and blowing traffic controls, think of the children!”
SHAME on anyone opposed to this cultural event . Reminds me of the days when low riders were banned from cruising. AKA No Brown people .
Time with judge these complainers/racist .
Same people are against gay marriage , womenโs rights , Anti Palestine . Leave the kids alone BOOMER
This is a cultural celebration .
Nah, as the 13 negative votes (and counting) indicate, this is just unsafe, illegal, juvenile delinquency. I don’t know how many people have to be hurt before the police do something.
Crusing and intentionally being a selfish menace are not the same thing. Im a zoomer beaner that is in support of all the things you say im against btw. I also love the low riders and my culture.
Iโm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and chalk your comments up to satirical trolling. Otherwise donโt reduce peopleโs culture to driving down the wrong side of the road.
These *children* are a real danger and a problem SFPD should be able to deal with before somebody really gets hurt or dies.
This is satire, right?
Pro Palestine – Anti-motobike mayem