MIAMI – More than 160 arrests were made and dozens of vehicles were impounded as Miami-Dade police cracked down on the illegal use of ATVs, dirt bikes and motorcycles during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day tradition known as “Wheels Up, Guns Down.”
Multiple law enforcement agencies, including Florida Highway Patrol, said they were monitoring roads for violators, many of whom ride dirt bikes and ATVs.
On Tuesday, Miami-Dade Police Detective Andre Martin said law enforcement officers arrested 169 illegal riders, handed out close to 700 citations and seized over 100 vehicles during the holiday weekend.
Throughout the long weekend, we have increased patrol as part of our ongoing commitment to community safety. As of 4:00 p.m., our Weekend Safety Initiative has yielded the impoundment of 69 vehicles. These tremendous results would not have been possible without the assistance of… pic.twitter.com/dMpSQZXAZ2
— Miami-Dade Police (@MiamiDadePD) January 16, 2024
From one block to the next throughout Miami-Dade County, riders disrupted Martin Luther King Jr. Day traffic. While some riders were able to evade officers, others were not so lucky.
According to an arrest report from the Miami Police Department, both Jeyson Omar Ortiz, 20, of Lauderdale Lakes, and Jason Lewis, 34, of Miami are both facing charges of reckless driving, fleeing, eluding a police officer and resisting arrest without violence.
On Monday afternoon, a group of riders traversed the streets of Miami. It appeared all were on bicycles as they went from the Wynwood neighborhood to Brickell and into Coconut Grove.
After working detail to reduce or dismantle crime during the parade, police said they noticed the driver of a newer black Dodge Charger with tinted windows passing their vehicle and wearing a hoodie over his head.
After continuing to follow the Dodge Charger from a distance between Northwest Miami Court and Northwest 20th Street, police said the driver in the vehicle was “traveling at a high rate of speed with no regard for any vehicles or pedestrian on the road.”
After attempting to conduct a traffic stop with multiple marked and unmarked police units, authorities said Ortiz, who was identified as the driver of the Dodge Charger, fled the scene before he was eventually caught and taken into custody by Miami police.
On Tuesday, Lewis also appeared in court.
“He’s riding an ATV on the street and they tried to stop him,” said Judge Mindy S. Glazer.
Lewis was one of the hundreds of riders who drove against oncoming traffic after getting to Coconut Grove. The group began to thin before it went into Coral Gables.
At one point, riders swarmed a gas station on 79th Street just off I-95, leaving it trashed.
The pack of riders wheelied and winded their way through busy Miami traffic and onto the Brickell bridge, which was being made fun of on social media.
On Friday night, Miami-Dade Police prevented a “street takeover” by arresting 61 “illegal riders” near Miami International Airport.
As families celebrate the holiday, authorities continue to emphasize that they will have zero tolerance for anyone breaking traffic laws and being reckless in Miami-Dade County.
Sky 10 video: