Teens among bike riders arrested for disrupting traffic in Charlotte, police say
A group of bicycle riders is off the roads after being arrested last week for disrupting traffic in uptown Charlotte, police said.
The five cyclists — ages 39, 29, 19, 17 and 15 — have been charged with reckless driving, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said in a tweet on Tuesday. The arrests came hours after an assault accusation in uptown on July 21 against a cyclist who is a member of the same bicycle group charged for reckless driving, the tweet said.
The group rides in a pack and is known to do wheelies, disobey traffic lights, ride on sidewalks or the wrong way in traffic, play chicken with drivers and commit other traffic violations, CMPD said its tweet. The group is also responsible for numerous 911 calls weekly around the uptown area, the tweet said.
The 17-year-old also was charged with resisting arrest, according to CMPD.
A parent of the 15-year-old was cited for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, the tweet said. It’s the second time the teenager has been arrested for driving recklessly and disrupting motorists, CMPD said. Police did not provide details about the earlier incident.
The suspects’ bicycles have been seized, police said.
“The CMPD is aware of the ongoing issue with bicycle groups riding recklessly in Uptown and other parts of Charlotte,” police said in a separate tweet. “Our officers will continue proactive patrols to hold these individuals accountable for their actions, seizing bicycles and in some instances, firearms.”
Previous incidents with cyclists
▪ On March 31, four juvenile cyclists were arrested after a driver accused them of assaulting him and stealing his car and other personal items in the 1400 block of Parkwood Avenue, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
The cyclists were “riding erratically” around 8 p.m. when a car collided into one of them, police said. When the driver exited the vehicle to check on the juvenile, the bicycle group beat him up and stole his phone, wallet, keys and car, according to a police report.
The juveniles involved were arrested on robbery charges, and the driver’s car was recovered, police said. The ages of the charged cyclists range from 14 to 27 years old.
Police did not say if any of the cyclists arrested last week were involved in the March 31 case.
▪ A group of young individuals fled on bicycles after a man was shot in the spine on Martin Luther King Boulevard after a confrontation turned physical near a park on April 17, the Observer previously reported.
Two adults and a juvenile were later charged in the case, police said.
▪ Paul Withrow, a U.S. Army veteran, was attacked and robbed along Dalton Avenue on July 12 by a group of kids who fled on bicycles, WSOC reported. Two teens and a 12-year-old were arrested, the TV station said.
Withrow told WSOC that he got in an argument with the kids before the assault. He needed five staples in his head after the attack, the report said.
This story was originally published July 26, 2022 at 4:19 PM.
