Salinas Police alerting people of dangerous makeshift bikes on streets
SALINAS, Calif. (KION) - Police are warning tonight about makeshift dirt bikes popping up on Salinas City streets, and the dangers they're bringing with them.
Police say they don't want to discourage people from the hobby of creating these bikes, but if you plan on riding them, do it in a designated area, not in neighborhoods like Creekbridge, where police responded to two minors riding the bikes.
Authorities say they're seeing more of these bikes, often lacking basic safety features, zipping through neighborhoods.
In many cases, they say riders have no turn signals, no license plates, and no regard for traffic laws.
"There are different reasons behind the legality when it comes to these bikes riding on the street as a vehicle. A lot of the bikes are makeshift kit bikes, where kids will buy all the pieces, put them together, and then go out and ride them," said Zach Dunagan, Sergeant with the Salinas Police Department.
Last week, SPD said two minors were caught riding recklessly in the Creek Bridge neighborhood.
They say that one fled and abandoned the bike in a creek.
"There are different charges that could be charged. Obviously, in this last case that we posted, they fled from us, so there's fleeing the police that can be a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on how reckless the fleeing becomes," said Dunagan.
Some people took to social media after the Salinas PD posted about the incident, disagreeing with the measures the department took.
They were saying "Let kids be kids" and "We've got to give the kids a place to ride."
Salinas police, however, say safety comes first.
"This is merely an educational thing to try to stop something dangerous from potentially happening. We have not seen that yet, and we don't want to see that. Most of our stops involve education. They don't involve an arrest," said Dunagan.
Police are urging parents to know what and where their teens are riding.
Police say if you see people riding the bikes, call the department and notify them.
