A gang of up to 200 masked bikers caused panic in Solihull when they descended upon the roads, jumping red lights, speeding, mounting pavements, weaving through traffic and attempting dangerous stunts.
It was alleged that fireworks were thrown at motorists and a police van was even attacked. Almost 100 of the masked riders swarmed on the van, trying to kick off wing mirrors and smash windows, fleeing when police back up arrived. A group of bikers even obstructed a fire engine trying to attend to an emergency.
Chief Inspector Jack Hadley said: “Stingers were used where appropriate to deflate bike tyres and to disrupt the activity.
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Damaged windshield at the hands of bikers. Credit: Credit: West Midlands Police
To combat the bikers, police used stingers to puncture their tyres and leave them stranded. They were then able to arrest up to seven people and seize ten bikes, including scramblers, mini-motos and mopeds. A number of the bikes are believed to have been stolen.
One biker crashed with a car, and according to West Midlands Police, the rider was also riding without registration or lights.
The motorcycle mayhem, known as Halloween Ride Out, was warned by the anonymous biking group in mid-October in the run up to Halloween. Chief Inspector Hadley described the event as “loutish, criminal behaviour…
He also said:
“This kind of ‘event’ is outrageous and totally unacceptable and I sympathise with any members of the public that were inconvenienced by the bikers.
“We will be gathering evidence from the event and where there are opportunities we will not hesitate to respond with more arrests and bike seizures.”
