Police seize ATVs, dirt bikes

Warming weather brightens moods and draws people outdoors, but in Allentown, it also brings the growls of all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes on city streets.

Allentown police Assistant Chief Charles Roca said the issue is a year-round one, but there’s no doubt warmer weather invites more scofflaws to use the streets for off-road vehicles.

On Tuesday, he said Allentown police confiscated several dirt bikes, ATVs and motorcycles that were being driven illegally. Though officers, himself included, will pull over any of these vehicles they spot driving on city streets, more coordinated sting operations tend to go into effect in the spring and summer.

None of that is possible without the public’s help, however.

“It’s that old adage: If you see something, say something,” Roca said. “It may not seem like anything is happening, but I assure you it is. If this is a problem in your neighborhood, we want to know about it.”

Besides being a noisy nuisance, ATVs and dirt bikes on city streets and sidewalks pose a danger to other drivers and pedestrians, Roca said. The issue affects quality of life and public safety, he said.

ATVs and dirt bikes cannot be driven on streets without major changes to the vehicles to make them roadworthy, Roca said. When drivers are pulled over, Roca said, they usually cannot produce the required registration and inspection documents and receive citations. If they are also unable to produce documentation proving ownership, police confiscate and impound the vehicles.

Allentown police conducted an aggressive driving enforcement operation Tuesday, seizing multiple dirt bikes, ATVs and motorcycles that were being driven illegally around town.

Residents can call Allentown police to report the vehicles or use the Tip 411 app and include videos or photos of illegal activity. Any information can be provided anonymously, Roca said.

— Sarah M. Wojcik

science, authorities in 2007 exhumed the remains to begin work on identifying them. Forensic reconstructive sketches of the girl were publicized in 2014 and again in ‘15.

On Dec. 23, 1976, three days after the remains were discovered, the Philadelphia medical examiner’s office ruled the cause of death as strangulation, but police in 2014 said Colon was shot in the throat.

— Andrew Scott