A group of violent Philadelphia ATV drivers was caught on video attacking police by throwing bricks and bottles at the officers before fleeing the scene, police said.
The group unleashed its assault on police just one day after a Republican city councilman accused the administration of Mayor Jim Kenney, a Democrat, of instructing officers “not to enforce the law.”
The Philadelphia Police Department shared video on Tuesday showing “a large group of people riding dirt bikes and ATV’s” around a gas station near Delaware Avenue and Spring Garden Street, cops said.
Police said a dirt bike rider initially crashed a vehicle near the gas pumps and ran off. Investigators later determined the bike had been reported stolen from New Jersey.
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But the situation then devolved further, police said.
“As officers attempted to secure the stolen dirt bike the crowd began to circle the officers while throwing bricks, bottles and other objects at them,” Philadelphia Police said. “One marked police vehicle was kicked repeatedly and had it’s (sic) windshield broken with brick before the group fled the area.”
Video footage shows the chaos unfolding – with one ATV driver doing donuts near the gas pumps as a dirt bike rider approaches and hurls an object at a police vehicle.
Police body camera video shows the crime from a different view, as sirens can be heard in the background.
Just one day earlier, Philadelphia City Councilman At-Large David Oh responded to a different video showing hordes of dirt-bike and ATV riders, and wrote: “This has to stop.”
Oh wrote that police “are instructed by the Mayor’s Administration not to enforce the law.”
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“That has resulted in this escalating problem of reckless driving, no insurance, intentional disregard for public safety, likely possession of illegal firearms & potential violence,” he added.
In response to a Fox News Digital inquiry, a city spokesperson called Oh’s statement “simply untrue” and said the office welcomed Oh’s suggestions “on concrete ideas to address this behavior.”
“The safety of pedestrians and motorists is paramount, and our Administration takes this issue very seriously. Dirt bikes and ATVs are illegal to operate on city streets,” the spokesperson wrote. “Operators can be ticketed, and vehicles confiscated. Police have been successful in confiscating hundreds of dirt bikes, ATVs, and scooters as part of their efforts to cut down on this illegal activity and will continue to do so.”
They asked the public to report any such known or observed activity to police. They also urged the public to report locations where such vehicles are being parked or kept by calling to 215-686-TIPS.
