Paul Bass Photo
An intergenerational confrontation moves out into the hallway.
New Haven’s Dirt Bike Menace rolled into City Hall for a candid rap with outraged lawmakers. No one left singing “Kumbaya.”
The menace arrived Tuesday night in the form of one Justin (he didn’t give his last name), a 17-year-old self-described lifelong aficionado of illegally tearing up New Haven roads on dirt bikes.
He showed up at a meeting of the Board of Aldermen’s City Services and Environmental Policy Committee. The committee held a public hearing in response to a growing outcry across town to rein in illegal dirt bike and ATV riders. The riders, sometimes alone, sometimes in large packs, have been roaring along streets and sidewalks, sometimes running into people (including a 7‑year-old girl), popping wheelies, waking up neighbors, weaving in and out of cars and flouting traffic laws.
Justin sat quietly in the back of the aldermanic chamber with his 17-year-old dirt bike buddy Mike (he didn’t give his last name either) as a parade of adults addressed the committee. They came from Fair Haven. They came from the Heights. They came from Edgewood. They came from Westville. They made the same plea: Help! Do something!
Justin sat as a fellow Fair Havener, Mary Ann Moran (pictured), described volunteering at an after-school program with little kids outside Clinton Avenue School when dirt bikers suddenly sped across a playing field right toward them at 60 miles per hour. She described how hundreds of Chatham Square neighbors were enjoying a festival in their reclaimed park when a bunch of bikers suddenly roared by and terrorized them.
“There can be two. There can be 20. They come from nowhere. They don’t want to talk to you,” said Moran, a Fair Haven activist who has lived in the neighborhood for 33 years.
“Get them off the road and let’s find something for these boys to do. We’ve solved major problems in this city. We can solve this.”
Justin continued sitting as another Fair Havener, Liz Laverty (pictured), spoke of having trouble driving down her street when faced with 30 dirt bikers. She spoke of how one of her 11 month-old daughter Nora’s first words was “brrrrrrrrrr…” As in the noise of dirt bikes.
Justin (at right in photo, beside Mike) sat for about an hour in the back before he took a seat at a table in the front to address nine assembled aldermen. He did the talking. Mike offered moral support in the form of an occasional second.
“I came out tonight because Vinny asked me to come up and speak. I didn’t come here to start no trouble or nothing like that,” Justin began.
Vinny is East Shore top cop Sgt. Vincent Anastasio. He and Fair Haven top cop Sgt. Anthony Zona have been on a campaign to take on the Dirt Bike Menace. By Anastasio’s and Justin’s account, Anastastio has been arresting Justin since he was in single digits.
“I see how y’all looking at it like we’re a nuisance to the community,” Justin said. “I don’t take it like that. … It’s just something I do. I love riding. I’ve been riding forever, since I was a little kid. I don’t do it out of spite to bother people and upset the community.”
The Questioning Begins
Several aldermen asked Justin if he’d consider riding legally, off the street, if the city found a big space to set aside for dirt biking. Sure, Justin said. He couldn’t vouch for the rest of the dirt bikers in town.
It was noted that a track exists in Milford. The cops have tried to convince Justin and other riders to go there; they even offered to pay to transport them. Didn’t fly.
Justin maintained a grin throughout his interrogation.
Alderwomen Brenda Jones-Barnes of Fair Haven Heights and Tyisha Walker of West River asked the young man if he had considered the concept of respect.
Jones-Barnes: Do you know anything about Connecticut driver’s laws?
Justin: I don’t know. It’s just what I do.
Jones-Barnes: I’m really only asking you this because those of us who are driving vehicles on the road have to abide by those laws. If you’re coming into contact with groups of people that are not only not abiding by it but weaving in and out … it’s a crash about to happen. … We’re also concerned about you … Do you know the rules of the road? There should be some mutual respect …
Justin: I understand where you’re coming from there. It is totally breaking the law.
Jones-Barnes: It’s dangerous! If I’m on the sidewalk and somebody’s going to whiz by me, what part is safe for me to be on? If it’s not the road as a driver, if it’s not the sidewalk as a pedestrian, where are we supposed to go if people with dirt bikes think they own the road? Where’s the mutual respect? When are we going to get respect?
Walker: When you’re out riding bikes, do you ever consider not only your safety but the safety of other people?
Justin: I lost a lot of friends from riding motorcycles, not only dirt bikes … I see it like that is just something that is communication with cars and bikes. I know the dirt bikes don’t have lights or stuff on them. But if they’re riding at night, that’s their fault, not so much the traffic’s fault. It’s always on them [the dirt bikers]. That’s the risk.
Westville Alderman Adam Marchand tried pitching Justin on the non-motorized form of bike daredeviling.
Marchand: There’s a skate park in Edgewood Park. You can do tricks [with BMX bikes]. …
Justin: I always had a passion for dirt bikes.
Marchand: [A BMX bike] doesn’t sound like a chain saw. There’s no pollution. You end up getting physically fit. Exercise. Your legs are really strong. You look better.
Justin wasn’t buying. Nor did he leap at Marchand’s suggestion that he wear a helmet to protect himself. He did offer an explanation. “The only reason I don’t wear a helmet on the street, to really seriously tell you the truth,” Justin said, “is because it blocks my vision and I can’t see the cops. That’s why I don’t wear a helmet.”
That was enough for another Justin present at the hearing: East Rock Alderman Justin Elicker. He chairs the committee that held the hearing. (He’s also seriously considering a run for mayor.)
After his colleagues finished asking questions, Justin Elicker told Justin Dirt Biker that he saw no reason to bother trying to find him a space to ride his dirt bike legally in New Haven. The alderman proclaimed the dirt biker “arrogant” and bent on flouting the law.
“You’ve done it in front of the cops and haven’t stopped. You know you’re not supposed to do it,” Justin Elicker said. “You’re flagrantly flaunting the law in front of everyone. Why should we find you a place to ride?” (Click on the play arrow at the top of this story to watch portions of their exchange.)
Zona’s Solution: “Destroy The Bikes”
After Justin’s testimony, he continued fielding questions out in the hallway, from some of the besieged members of the public as well as Fair Haven Alderman Ernie Santiago. Click on the play arrow to view highlights.
Meanwhile, back at the hearing, Anastasio and Zona took a turn answering questions from the aldermen. They weren’t having any of this middle-ground find-them-a-place-to-ride stuff. They’d already tried all that, they said.
“My blood pressure went up a few notches” just listening to some of that talk, Anastasio reported.
“There’s a high for these kids: driving around around cars, getting chased by police. That’s their drug.”
Along with city Chief Administrative Officer Rob Smuts, they described the efforts they’ve made more recently to combat dirt bikes, and what they hope to try next.
They’ve confiscated around 100 illegal or illegally ridden dirt bikes in recent months they said. But under state law New Haven can’t charge more than $250 for the tow and storage. They can’t confiscate the bikes for good. So most of them end up back on the streets.
Now the police are experimenting with a new strategy: Requiring bike owners to talk to a cop before tow companies will releasing confiscated dirt bikes.
Anastastio, Zona, Smuts.
The three officials urged the public to give the police as much information as possible to help track down the bikers. They specifically suggested posting complaints, and photos if possible, on the See Click Fix website.
They also called for changing state law. They want the power to charge, say $2,000 before returning some vehicles, the way the city of Philadelphia is hoping to start doing. They’d like the legal power in some cases to destroy the bikes, so they never return to the road.
“Destroy the bikes! I don’t think there’s any other way around it,” Zona said. “I keep saying: Destruction.”
The aldermen arrived at a step they can take: They can draw up a resolution to ask the state legislature to make those changes to the law.
Would you like us to do that? Marchand asked.
Yes, Rob Smuts replied.
This issue should be addressed immediately - we shouldn't have to wait until October 2013 for a hypothetical new State law to take effect.