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STAMFORD, Conn. — A 15-year-old was injured after crashing his dirt bike into a Nissan Altima on Grove Street on Thursday evening, Stamford police said.
Before the accident, the 15-year-old had driven through a parking lot and jumped a curb before hitting the car, Capt. Richard Conklin said. The teenager appeared to have a broken foot and damaged the bumper of the vehicle, he said.
The 100cc Honda dirt bike was also damaged and seized by police, the captain said.
The teen was charged with reckless operation, operation of an unregistered vehicle, operation without head protection and operating without insurance, Conklin said.
Police had been looking for a group of teenagers riding dirt bikes recklessly through the city Thursday evening, but officers were unable to catch the group because they would swerve in and out of traffic and go up on curbs, Conklin said. The dirt bike operators reportedly went from lower High Ridge Road through Summer Street and Washington Boulevard, the captain said.
The police department has heard complaints from other towns of reckless dirt-bike driving, and in some cases dirt bikes used in the commission of crimes, Conklin said. Stamford Police have not had any reports of crimes but has had numerous calls recently of reckless driving, he said.
“It adds a certain dilemma for law enforcement,” Conklin said. Dirt bikes are tough to chase because the operators have little regard for safety and put more people in harm’s way, he said. The police department is trying to determine ways to keep people safe in these instances, he said..
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