War on trail bike hoons

POLICE are cracking down on illegal trail bike riders who harass residents and roar down streets at all hours of the night.

Penrith traffic Sergeant Matt Shirvington and Senior Constable Andy Hayward on trail bikes at Cranebrook, a hotspot for illegal dirt bike riders.

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POLICE are cracking down on illegal trail bike riders who harass residents and roar down streets at all hours of the night.

Cranebrook has been identified as the region’s hotspot and in just three months Penrith police have confiscated 10 dirt bikes.

“It’s epidemic in there and we are doing a lot to combat it,” Penrith traffic Sergeant Matt Shirvington told the Penrith Press.

“They (riders) intimidate people, especially women pushing prams, just for the fun of it. They are absolutely offensive and the locals have had enough,” he said.

Sgt Shirvington said the riders, mostly juveniles who rely on stolen or “ratted” bikes, are active at all times of the day but their behaviour ramps up towards dusk and into the night.

Mount Druitt Police trail bike squad officers Constable Andrew Klippert and Sergeant Dave Flood patrol near the Kevin Betts basketball stadium.

They frequent the suburb’s parks areas, such as the skate park on Borrowdale Way, open space adjoining Waterside estate, Greygums Oval and pedestrian pathways.

Under the jurisdiction of road rules, riders face unregistered, uninsured and unlicensed offences which carry fines of $650 each.

They could also be charged with endangerment and culpable driving, negligence, intimidation and other indictable offences.

Ryan Warby started the Cranebrook Community Facebook page and said noisy dirt bikes and reckless riders always sparked conversation among residents.

A father of two, Mr Warby said residents have been reporting riders and attaching photographs and video, which has helped police track a few down in the past fortnight.

Constable Andrew Klippert and Sergeant Dave Flood are part of the trail bike squad.

He convinced others to reach out to police when riders were “endangering kids and others” two months ago at Greygums oval, the site of Cranebrook Little Athletics, where he and his wife volunteer.

“At the end of the day, we were having a sausage sandwich and the kids were running around having some fun when these two knobs on bikes rode past really close to the kids.

“They wear no protective equipment, have no lights on their bikes and wear a shorts and a t-shirt while they’re buzzing around.”

Seized trail bikes at Mt Druitt police station.

Penrith Council has also vowed to help stop the youth in their tracks.

A council spokesman said the council was putting up signs in the LGA to remind people it is an offence, “which gives police another option to issue further infringements”.

Sgt Shirvington said: “We want the broader community to know we want to work with them.

“If they know something they should say something or if they see something, tell police – we want to know where these people are coming from.”