CMPD targets ‘aggressive bike riders’ after rise in incidents. Parents may be charged too
After seeing an uptick in violence, and crimes being committed by youths on bicycles and ATVs, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police are increasing enforcement and charging parents in some cases too.
At a news conference to discuss the issue on Wednesday, police said that over the past few weeks, violence in uptown by juveniles on bikes has worsened, resulting in some shootings and drug seizures.
Children as young as 11 have been charged with crimes ranging from reckless driving and obstructing officers to assault with a deadly weapon, police Lt. Stephen Fischbach said.
Since January, CMPD has made 28 arrests involving youths and young adults on bikes and ATVs. The department seized eight bicycles, three dirt bikes and two ATVs, Fischbach said.
“These groups have endangered drivers and pedestrians and... there are a number of challenges that the police department faces in addressing these issues,” Fischbach said. That includes getting no cooperation from any of the people involved in the cases.
Recent incidents in Charlotte
Police detailed several recent incidents, including one that took place April 17 on Martin Luther King Boulevard near a park. It left a man shot in the spine and likely paralyzed.
Several young men, who were not on bikes at the time, were sitting on the curb near the park and began to make comments about a man’s car as he drove by. The man pulled into a parking lot and confronted them when a fight occurred, Capt. Bret Balamucki of CMPD’s Central division said.
Ultimately, the driver was shot in the spine, and the young men fled on bicycles, Balamucki said. Two adults and a juvenile were later charged in the case.
Meanwhile, police on Sunday attempted a roundup in areas where youth on bikes and ATVs frequently gather in groups of five to 30 people, with the goal of targeting “aggressive bike riders,” CMPD said in a release. Balamucki said CMPD engaged their aviation unit, and officers seized two ATVs and two dirt bikes.
During the round-up, police said, 24-year-old Joe Colombo Nguyen led officers on a high speed chase on a motorcycle, and threw a molotov cocktail at them.
Nguyen was arrested, and according to CMPD, officers seized another dirt bike as well as 40 pounds of marijuana, 22 grams of suspected fentanyl, a handgun and an assault rifle.
While reckless riding and playing chicken with cars has been a concern in the city for some time, Balamucki said, there has been an increase in violence among youth on bikes. However, CMPD did not say how these numbers compare to years prior, and said they just recently began tracking the incidents.
“We had the Parkwood Avenue motorist that struck a kid on a bike and when he got out to check on him, they beat him up, took his stuff and took his car,” Balamucki said. “All four of those young men were arrested.”
Four sets of parents charged
In an April 20 incident, police encountered an 11-year-old, two 12-year-olds and a 15 year-old riding scooters recklessly in uptown when they were confronted by a driver. The 12-year-old pulled out an air gun made to look real — it even had a serial number on it — and threatened the driver, Balamucki said.
All four sets of parents were charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, Balamucki said. This charge gives them citations and requires them to explain to a judge why their children were roaming uptown unsupervised at dusk, he said.
Charging parents for the actions of their children isn’t new, and has been used consistently by the department to hold people accountable when juvenile activity could have been averted, Balamucki said.
