Dozens arrested as riders descend

Police: Reckless riding results in 28 impounds 25 arrests, 37 citations

Some call it “Bikes up, Guns down.” Others say “Wheels up, Guns down.”

Both monikers, which refer to hundreds of brash riders of offroad vehicles and bikes on South Florida streets during the Martin Luther King Jr. day weekend — supposedly in support of civil rights and reducing gun violence — failed to live up to their name yet again this year in South Florida.

According to figures from the Miami-Dade Police Department, between Saturday and Monday at 5 p.m. there were at least two guns recovered from riders of ATVs, dirt bikes and other vehicles that popped wheelies and zipped in and out of roads across the county.

The reckless riding resulted in 28 impounded vehicles, 25 arrests and 37 traffic citations in MiamiDade.

WSVN-Ch.7 reported an additional five arrests that took place on Saturday in Broward.

Before the weekend, South Florida police agencies warned that they would be out in full force to round up careless riders that tend to wreak havoc on South Florida streets during the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and break multiple traffic laws along the way.

A few days ago, Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said his agency would be sending a “clear and strong message” to those who decide to violate the laws on the roads over the weekend.

In 2018, police in Broward and Miami-Dade made more than 35 arrests and seized or towed more than 80 vehicles that riders used to pop wheelies, drive against traffic, run red lights and cruise in packs on interstates.

In 2019, there were 29 arrests, 25 vehicles seized, and two guns taken off riders in Broward.