I wanted to post this because of the large number of people who I know pedal on ARB daily (including my beloved Jason.)
I was just on ARB driving my sister back home after a visit, heading towards the ARB, Wash Blvd intersection. There was a cyclist on the white line and a line of oncoming traffic. I slowed down til it was clear for me to straddle the yellow line to give the cyclist a safe pass.
I passed the cyclist and was getting back into my lane as I checked my rearview mirror and a crotch rocket street bike blew past the two cars behind me and passed ME on the left in the oncoming traffic lane while doing a wheelie. There was a car in the oncoming lane that slammed on its brakes to avoid a head on collission with the street bike. And I hit the brakes too just as the bike cut back into the lane right in front of me. Interestingly, there was a cyclist on the white line of the oncoming lane too who also skidded to a stop. And we all kinda sat at a dead stop, stunned by what had just happened.
Traffic started moving again and I found myself behind this raging idiot at the left turn lane to turn onto Wash Blvd. The car that was behind me pulled up next to the street bike and gave him a piece of her mind and he just turned his head.
I took a picture of this idiot and would now like to know what to do with this information. I followed a safe distance behind him on Wash Blvd until he ran the red light at the Zone 5 police station and flew up the rode, doing a wheelie again.
Here is the picture. The plate is DREDZ and it is a yellow street bike (Jason could probably ID the bike.) with expired registration tags (reg sticker was for 2-11.)
Has anyone seen this guy before? What do we do about it? Can I call up the police and report him? At the very least he can get picked up for expired tags and if there is a way to report a complaint against him, maybe that'll show up when he gets caught for the expired tags.
My sister and I were frustrated, scared and rattled by this whole thing. Luckily no one was hurt but there were TWO cyclists right in the middle of this who would have been terrible collateral damage if any cars had collided with this joker. 
Its perfectly fine to call 911 in this situation. If you reported this to 311, they would tell you to call 911. Although its a he-said, she-said witness sort of situation, not only is he dangerously operating a vehicle in the sense of creating a danger to you drivers and the cyclists, but doing wheelies is also illegal on public streets.
Im not ashamed to say to say good thing that guy rides without a helmet, Im a big believer in Darwin's theories.
I would still report it. Either call 911 or stop at the zone 5 station. I'm not sure that the police will be able to do anything this time, but citizen complaints might persuade them to increase patrols on ARB.
Also, I know that the state hands out funds to local police from time to time for targeted law enforcement (like wearing your seat belt!) and they sometimes look for “aggressive” drivers. So maybe if the extra funds are available, they can, you know, look for people breaking the law. (sigh)
+1 on reporting it. If nothing else, it may give the police more incentive to patrol that area better.
Hey I had a run in with this guy on Highland Ave. I was ridding down past Peabody when he shot past me doing a wheelie. He shot past so close to me a did a wobble and stop move. He works at the shoe store near the corner of Penn and Highland, or he hangs out there, the store is on Highland I cant remember the name of it off hand.
Sounds like this guy is a repeat offender. I will be making a stop at the Zone 5 station tomorrow.
@mrmarvelous: Interesting you say he hangs at Penn and Highland in East Lib - I saw him heading up Negley Run Road towards that direction when I was still behind him on Washington Blvd. This is of course circumstantial evidence, but still. I shoulda followed him.
Sneaker Villa (though they may have changed the name in recent years).
Please, both of you make reports & avoid confrontations.
"...he ran the red light at the Zone 5 police station..."
'nuff said.
You are right I need to go down to Zone 5. I didn't think much of it at the time, but he is a danger to cyclist, drivers, and pedestrians. And yes the place he works or hangs is The Villa.
+1 Report it to Zone 5. If the police don't have data, the problem doesn't exist.
I suspect him having expired tags means he let his insurance lapse and or may have an expired learners permit.
Does anyone understand the 'fad' of keeping ones helmet on the side of their bike like that? I see this all the time with people flying down Penn. I'm all for darwins theories, but to make it a fashion statement or whatever is weird.
Definitely agree you should report it. I do all the time for these jokers that have almost taken me out cross Penn several times.
Does anyone understand the 'fad' of keeping ones helmet on the side of their bike like that?
^@wojty, maybe its some kind of "solidarity with Roethlisberger" statement? People standing together for their right to ride helmetless, licenseless, and with disregard for the well being of others?
Does anyone understand the 'fad' of keeping ones helmet on the side of their bike like that?
I know some guys that keep a helmet on their bike for their girlfriend, but don't wear one themselves.
Some guy on s crotch rocket passed me on ARB on my left over the yellow a few weeks ago, but the guy was white, and wearing no helmet either.
+1 also for reporting the guy you saw. I am surprised he didn't do anything else illegal and you were able to catch up with him.
just checked with hubby, that's not the guy that prompted my eerily similar situation on an earlier thread (black bike).
+1 reporting, especially since you have a picture with visible tags and face in it.
hope he wakes up before he hurts himself or others.
I read the title of this thread and just thought, "and in other news..." You see reports of riders on these things losing control and riding them off bridges and hitting random objects all the time.
Definitely report him.
there was a guy back home in rochester that decapitated himself on a street sign while riding like an asshole. they estimated his speed at 120 something mph (on a winding 25 mph street similar to beechwood blvd in frick) the sign was bloody but otherwise not messed up enough to replace when i rode by on my way to work the next day.
be a damn shame if something like that happened to dredz. a damn shame.
Peaceturkey is lucky I was not in the car at the time. I would have gotten out at the traffic light, pulled the keys out of the ignition of his bike and thrown them in the sewer.
.
At first I read his license plate as OREOZ. As awesome as DREDZ is, OREOZ would have been so much better.
