State Rep. Russell Holmes wants action against roving packs of ATV and dirt bike riders after one group brutally attacked an 82-year-old man in Boston, leaving him hospitalized through the Thanksgiving holiday.
“This is the natural conclusion if you’re content to let our roads be run by a gang of people who want to intimidate,” Holmes told the Herald.
The Mattapan lawmaker had his own run-in with dirt bike toughs back in May. He said he rubbed a group of about 50 dirt bikers the wrong way when he pulled out of the driveway of the Franklin Park golf course, and they proceeded to circle around him and try to push him off towards the side of the road.
“I could see the anger in the folks all around me,” he said.
Eventually, he stopped his car and let the group move on.
State Police are searching for any information about a pack of 30 to 40 ATV and dirt bike riders who allegedly attacked an elderly man driving in the Fenway area on Nov. 18. Riders smashed the windows of the man’s 1996 Buick Century and followed him as he drove on, searching for help and eventually reaching the DoubleTree Hotel in Allston. When he stopped to ask a witness to call 911, the group began punching the man. They kicked his car, further smashed the windows, and threw a piece of pipe through the car’s rear window, police said.
Over the last year, city officials have held community meetings about the wheelie-popping rolling packs and Boston Police have seized dozens of ATVs and dirt bikes following rashes of complaints. But Holmes wants more proactive solutions to the issue.
“Police have to do more investigations into where these bikes are being repaired. We have to get them before they get on the street with 50, 75, 100 of them rolling together,” he said.
“The solution has to be more aggressive. We have to be more vigilant about saying to folks, we have to report this,” he said.
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