Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Selfies lead cops to rider — and him to Rikers
A New York man smiled for his cellphone camera during a wild ATV ride, but his video antics caught the eye of an unwanted audience: the Hollywood police.
During the so-called Bikes Up, Guns Down ride on Jan. 16 — Martin Luther King Jr. Day — the man Hollywood police identify as Wilfredo Garcia Jr. can be seen cruising State Road 7 wearing gold headphones and goggles turned backward as police vehicles with lights flashing and sirens blaring follow him.
Police said Garcia drove his ATV 50 mph in a 35 mph zone and made a U-turn into oncoming traffic, among other violations.
In the video, the man yells for officers to “shut up.” As the officers appear to peel off from the pursuit at one point, Garcia repeatedly seems to ask them where they are going.
After noticing the rider recording himself, officers apparently went to their computers.
It turns out that Garcia, 27, who lives in New York, posted the video on Instagram, an online site for sharing photos and videos. Hollywood investigators found it by searching social media for #bikesupgunsdown, said police spokeswoman Miranda Grossman.
The video alone might not have been enough to find Garcia, but as a Hollywood police sergeant scrolled through Garcia’s pictures, he found one with the Pennsylvania license plate of a motorbike, according
to the arrest report filed in the case.
A cross-reference of a law enforcement database led to Garcia’s identity and his New York address, where police arrested him Jan. 25, the report said.
He is at Rikers Island Correctional Facility in New York City and is awaiting extradition to Broward County. He will face charges of reckless driving and fleeing and eluding police, Grossman said.
Before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, South Florida police agencies announced a unified effort to stop the reckless driving and riding.
It was an effort to prevent deaths like that of Jose Ramon Hernandez Acevedo, 20, of Miami. He died Jan. 15 after riding an ATV along the Palmetto Expressway with a large group of ATVs, dirt bikes and motorcycles.
Then on Jan. 16, Javis Charles, 25, of Miami, died after after his dirt bike hit a Toyota Camry at Northwest Sixth Avenue and Northwest 54th Street in Miami.
Another motorcyclist, whose name was not released, was left in serious condition Jan. 16 after crashing his motorcycle into a pickup truck at Northwest 27th Avenue and Northwest 167th Street in Miami, police said.
Law enforcement reported at least 40 arrests; three guns were seized. At least 84 dirt bikes, ATVs, trucks and trailers were seized.
“We want to ensure that the illegal and reckless activities, like the ATV ride on Jan. 16, 2017, are not commonplace and that our roadways remain safe for everyone,” Grossman said.