At least 40 arrests, 84 bikes towed after ‘Wheels Up’ holiday ride

Despite law enforcement efforts to prevent a third annual “Wheels Up, Guns Down” ride during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend, drivers of ATVs and dirt bikes that are illegal for street use rode them on South Florida roads anyway.

And that determination proved fatal for some.

A dirt bike rider, Javis Charles, 25, of Miami died Monday night after he collided with a Toyota Camry at Northwest Sixth Avenue and Northwest 54th Street, Miami police officer Christopher Bess said.

Also Monday in Miami-Dade County, a motorcycle rider participating in the Wheels Up ride who was not identified by the Florida Highway Patrol collided with a pickup at the intersection of Northwest 27th Avenue and Northwest 167 Street near the Palmetto Expressway.

The motorcycle rider was flown to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he was in serious condition, the highway patrol said.

On Sunday afternoon, ATV rider Jose Ramon Hernandez Acevedo, 20, of Miami died after riding along the Palmetto Expressway near Northwest 103rd Street with a large group of ATVs, dirt bikes and motorcycles. He lost control of his ATV and was not wearing a helmet or any protective clothing, Lt. Yosdany Veloz said.

“We have no way of knowing if he was going to participate in the Wheels Up, Guns Down event,” Veloz said in an email.