100-Plus Dirt Bikes, ATVs, Seized By Police, Pulverized In New Haven

NEW HAVEN, CT — Illegal dirt bikes, ATVs, and other motorized recreational vehicles seized and impounded by New Haven police, and other members of the Joint Regional Dirt Bike and ATV Task Force, were destroyed in a crusher Friday.

To date, the NHPD and Joint Regional Task Force on Dirt Bikes and ATVs have seized and impounded 120 MRVs.

"There has been a lot of effort of us getting to this point ...today we are going to crush a lot of ATVs and dirt bikes," Mayor Justin Elicker said. The mayor said the issue of street takeovers by illegal dirt bikes and ATVs has been a "vexing issue."

Elicker, Police Chief Karl Jacobson, city and state officials and representatives from Task Force member departments stood by as scores of vehicles were pulverized.

The Joint Regional Dirt Bike and ATV Task Force includes New Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Naugatuck, North Haven, Orange, Wallingford, West Haven, Woodbridge, and Connecticut State Police.

State legislation passed and signed into law in May — An Act Concerning Street Takeovers and the Illegal Use of Certain Vehicles — enabled municipalities to impose stiffer penalties and permitted the destruction of MRVs, which when illegally operated on municipal streets can pose significant risks to the safety and wellbeing of residents, bystanders, motorists, and the MRV riders themselves.

Elicker and Jacobson worked with state lawmakers and other municipal and law enforcement leaders to help champion this legislation, and testified in support of its passage earlier this year, the Mayor's office said.

Advocacy for this bill is the latest in the city’s ongoing efforts to address this critical public safety and quality of life issue, including enacting new local ordinances that increase fines and seize vehicles; fining gas stations that service these vehicles; creating a Joint Regional Bike and ATV Task Force Task Force with neighboring municipalities and the CT State Police; and deploying technology and infrastructure measures such as cameras, drones, and speed humps to prevent street takeovers.

"To more effectively combat the issue, municipal leaders in the area established a joint regional task force in September 2023 and committed to working together by assigning dedicated law enforcement personnel to participate in weekly meetings, share information and intelligence, coordinate joint operations to enforce related local and state laws, seize illegally used MRVs, and identify and apprehend individuals engaging in these illegal activities," a news release from Elicker's office reads.

See full press briefing here:

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