nothin Covert Camera Crew Nabs 9 Dirt Bikers | New Haven Independent

Covert Camera Crew Nabs 9 Dirt Bikers

Thomas MacMillan Photos

Esserman saluted the arrests at a press conference.

A gang of masked dirt bikers circled around an unmarked car, spitting, shouting and throwing rocks. They didn’t realize that they were giving the two cops inside the evidence they needed to put them in handcuffs.

One of the cops was Sgt. Karl Jacobson, working as part of special operation to crack down on illegal dirt biking in New Haven. For 10 weeks, he and his cops in the Criminal Intelligence Unit drove the streets in unmarked cars, filming dirt bikers and ATV riders breaking the law by riding on city streets.

The investigation, Operation Bike Life,” this week snared nine people who have allegedly been tearing around town on dirt bikes. Police secured warrants for their arrest based on videotape evidence gathered by Sgt. Jacobson and others. The arrests come on the heels of six other dirt-biker arrests during 10 weeks of the operation.

Operation Bike Life marks an important shift in the way cops are tackling the problem of dirt biking: Police discovered a way to arrest the bikers without having to chase them.

Cops and elected officials marked the success of the operation with a Friday afternoon press conference at the police training academy on Sherman Parkway, featuring 11 of the bikes and ATVs seized.

Each year as the weather turns warmer, dirt bikes hit the streets, flouting traffic laws and zipping between cars throughout town. Neighbors have long complained about the onslaught, but police have had limited means to combat it. The police department’s no-chase policy prevents cops from pursuing the dirt bikers, for fear of causing injury to bystanders.

This weeks’ arrests included one juvenile and eight men between the ages of 18 and 40 from New Haven, East Haven, and West Haven. Police have secured a total of 16 warrants, for crimes including reckless endangerment, illegal operation, interfering, and risk of injury — a felony. They expect to soon make three more arrests on five warrants. Sgt. Vincent Anastasio said he’s already talked to two of those bikers, to convince them to turn themselves in.

Hill Alderman Jorge Perez (pictured), president of the Board of Aldermen, said that he and Aldermen Al Paolillo and Justin Elicker formed a group that met with police, state legislators, and the city’s chief administrative officer to work on a solution to the dirt bike problem. He saluted state Reps. Roland Lemar and Pat Dillon for their efforts at the state level.

Chief Dean Esserman thanked the Board of Aldermen for their efforts. They made the department hear the concerns of the community.”

Esserman singled out Sgt. Anastasio for his efforts as well.

Zero Tolerance”

In an interview Friday afternoon at police headquarters, Sgt. Jacobson, Sgt. Anastasio (pictured), and Sgt. Al Vasquez stressed that the recent arrests are just the beginning. The police department has zero tolerance” for illegal dirt biking and will continue to go after bikers, they said.

Sgt. Anastasio has been battling the dirt bike menace for several years in his district in the East Shore. Operation Bike Life grew out of his efforts. We just want to make a statement that the behavior will not be tolerated anymore.”

Jacobson’s Criminal Intelligence Unit — which usually works on gang intelligence, covert operations, narcotics — started videotaping bikers in town two months ago. They recorded them riding recklessly, doing wheelies in the middle of the road, and scaring pedestrians. They showed the videos to Sgt. Anastasio and other cops, who ID’d the riders.

On one of the first days out videotaping, March 29, Jacobson and another cop were filming bikers near Farren Avenue and Fulton Street in the Annex. We’d been following them for 30 minutes, trying to get faces.”

The bikers spotted the cops and the camera. They knew they were being filmed, they didn’t know it was cops behind the camera, Jacobson said. Civilians also often try to catch bikers on tape.

Jacobson stopped at a light and a biker pulled up next to him and spit on his window, Jacobson said. He turned left on Forbes Avenue and bikes circled the car.

My guy wanted to jump out,” Jacobson said. He told the officer not to grab the bikers, even though they were in reach; he wanted to keep filming. We had to restrain ourselves.”

One biker kicked the car. Another threw a rock that hit the back with a loud thunk. Little did the bikers know that another unmarked car was following from behind, catching the whole thing on tape.

Jacobson, who deals with some tough people in his unit’s normal investigations, said he had initially been a little skeptical that illegal dirt biking was such a big deal — until he experienced firsthand what it’s like. These guys are insane!” he said. These guys are so blatant.”

The community deals with this every day,” said Anastasio.

Jacobson said bikers should beware. They can never know now when they’re being filmed by cops in unmarked cars, to serve warrants later. No more riding around thinking they got away,” he said.

Jacobson said word has been circulating among the bikers that the cops are for real this time. He showed an image on his Blackberry of an Instagram photo one of the bikers posted: a picture of Jacobson’s business card with a comment below, This ain’t no joke.”

Jacobson said his unit has a database of evidence on bikers: names, addresses, photos of riders and their bikes, information from social media.

Cops have also been working closely with prosecutors on in-rem” seizures. In regular motor vehicle crime seizures, a dirt bike can be towed to a lot, where the owner can reclaim it for a fee. An in-rem” seizure is used when the bike is evidence of a more significant crime, like a reckless endangerment. In those cases, the police seize the bike and keep it as evidence. Of the 16 bikes cops have seized, one has been an in-rem seizure. Police expect to convert four more to in-rem status.

A new state law will soon give police yet another tool in the fight against dirt bikes. The bill, which has passed both chambers and is expected to be signed by the governor, will allow the city to impose a $1,000 penalty for a first instance of illegal dirt biking, $1,500 for a second, and $2,000 for a third. State Rep. Dillon led that effort.

East Rock Alderman Justin Elicker, a candidate for mayor, released a statement Friday praising Chief Esserman and the police department for the crackdown. Elicker has been working on the dirt bike issue for some time. Click the video to watch him confront a teenaged dirt-biker at an aldermanic hearing he convened last November.

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