2nd Arrest Made After 100-Plus Dirt Bikes, ATVs Swarm East Haven

EAST HAVEN, CT — A 29-year-old East Haven man has been charged in connection with the massive parade of dirt bikes and ATVs that swarmed sections of town earlier this month.

Well over 100 motorcycles, dirt bikes, ATVs and motorized scooters converged on East Haven on a sunny Sunday many "operating recklessly while disobeying traffic laws and officer’s signals to stop," police said.

The first arrest was of a juvenile not named by police.

As shared in the below video, some riders could be seen taunting and blocking police, with many sharing their own video to social media. And it was in part his own social media posts that led to the arrest of Yomar Rivera of East Haven.

According to East Haven police Capt. Joseph M. Murgo, once police asked for the public's help, "tips came pouring in."

Murgo said one of those tips involved a dirt bike rider seen on the video above "blocking and taunting officers" at the intersection of Hemingway Avenue and Saltonstall Parkway.

In the video, that person pulls up to officers and blocks their cruisers while a large group of riders drive by yelling obscenities, Murgo pointed out. That driver was identified as Rivera. He's seen in the video riding a blue and white dirt bike with a “Monster” decal while wearing a black and white mask, white t-shirt, jeans and distinct female Air Jordan 1 “NC to Chi” sneakers. As officers approach him, he taunts them while staying just out of reach before proceeding east bound on Saltonstall Parkway into Branford, Murgo said.

Rivera can be seen in the beginning of the dash-cam video above.

Through the investigation, Murgo said that Rivera’s identity was learned by his own public posts on social media, where images of him on the same dirt bike while wearing some of the same things were discovered.

An arrest warrant was issued, and Rivera was taken into custody and was charged with second-degree reckless endangerment, reckless driving, second-degree breach of peace, interfering with police, and disobeying the signal of a police officer. When he was arrested, Murgo said, he had in his possession brass knuckles and was charged also with illegal possession of a weapon in a motor vehicle.

Rivera was released on a $10,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 22.

The first person arrested was a teen, who was not be identified due to his age, police said. He was charged with reckless driving, second-degree reckless endangerment, interfering with police, operating without a license and operating while on a phone.

Read that story here.

Murgo noted that the incident is still an active investigation and police are "actively identifying participants in this ride, many of whom were not wearing face coverings." He said "more arrests are expected."

Police ask that anyone with information regarding the identity of "any of the riders who took part in the July 18 ride" contact police at 203-468-3820.