'Careless' teenage off-road biker arrested in Dudley and charged with possession of an offensive weapon, possession of Class B drugs, and a number of traffic offences
West Midlands Police has arrested a teenager and seized a number of off-road and e-bikes during a planned operation in Dudley.
A four-hour, multi-region police operation has seen officers target the Sedgley, Woodsetton, Gornal, Coseley and surrounding areas to tackle anti-social behaviour and a wide range of issues affecting the public.
During the police operation on Thursday, July 3, officers spotted a 17-year-old boy riding an off-road bike carelessly and without protective equipment in the Woodsetton area.
The boy fled when he spotted the officers; however, they quickly caught up and apprehended him.
As well as having his bike taken off him, he was arrested and later charged with possession of an offensive weapon, possession of Class B drugs, and a number of traffic offences.
Officers also spotted an electric motorbike being ridden at speed by a man along Burton Road, Dudley. After catching up to the 20-year-old, they issued a formal warning for riding in an anti-social manner.
A 24-year-old man also had his racing pit bike taken from him after he was found to be riding without insurance.
In addition to the arrest and seizures, officers also issued a community resolution notice to a passenger on another motorbike for possessing cannabis.
They also conducted two stop and searches in the region, with officers also taking the time to offer reassurance to residents of Dudley about the work they are doing to tackle anti-social behaviour.
The operation comes as part of Anti-Social Behaviour Awareness Week, which highlights the issues of aggressive biking, street drinking, littering, drug taking and other nuisance behaviour.
Sergeant Ross Treacy, from the Dudley North local action team, said: "When listening to concerns about ASB, people riding off-road bikes, e-bikes and other vehicles aggressively on streets and in parkland areas often tops the list of bugbears. It’s not just about the dangers they pose to pedestrians. These vehicles are often linked to criminal activity.
“We’re tackling this head-on with operations like this, and, while we’ll be running more of these, we also need members of the public to feed us information. I’d like to make a plea for residents to get in touch if they think they can help us. We’re all ears."
