If sunday was the ninth annual La Carne Azada motorcycle stunt ride through Aurora, it was a surprise to city police.
Some 350 motorcyclists from around the Midwest popped wheelies, performed a variety of other stunts and ran red lights to stay together as they traversed the city’s streets Sunday.
Aurora police said organizers did not warn them the ride would be coming through town this year or any other year.
“We had no idea it was going to happen,” Deputy Chief Keefe Jackson said. “We also never heard of that group or any other group of that size coming through city before. They claim they do this every year… we find this seems very difficult to believe.”
Not knowing about the rides only makes the difficult task of policing large motorcycle groups even harder, Jackson said. The police department has no record of anyone from Street Revolution contacting them this year or any previous year regarding the planned stunt rides, Aurora Police Department spokesman Dan Ferrelli said.
“From the mindset of a police officer on the street, dealing with a mob of bikes coming through, you have the potential to be surrounded by a group of bikers,” Jackson said. “You don’t know what their behavior could be.”
Aurora police discovered the event shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday when one motorcyclist used his bike to block a squad car and waved the remaining riders through the intersection of West New York Street and River Street, according to a statement from Ferrelli. The officer put on his lights and siren and tried to get the group to slow down, according to the statement.
Minutes later in an intersection on the city’s West Side, the motorcycle group encountered a 44-year-old Yorkville man driving a gray GMC Sierra pickup truck. In a number of videos that have been shared via social media, the riders can be seen surrounding the truck. In what police say was an apparent attempt to get away, the truck struck a motorcyclist. The rider declined treatment at the scene. Police have not issued any citations for the incident.
Police have to weigh concern for their own safety and that of residents along with the risk of chasing a single motorcycle with a squad car if the biker doesn’t cooperate, Jackson said. Typically, when a motorcyclist is blatantly disobeying the law, as soon as a squad car turns its lights on and attempts a stop, the motorcycle takes off, he said. It’s also common for motorcyclists riding in large groups to remove or obscure license plates so police can’t run them, making offenders difficult to identify, Jackson said.
The more bikers there are, the more difficult these situations become, he said.
Some have criticized police on social media for siding with the truck driver, while others have said they think police should do more to crack down on the behavior of unruly bikers. Some have asked why the police didn’t chase the motorcyclists and pull them over and why they can’t just identify law-breakers by using the videos.
Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman responded to critics Thursday with a post on her personal blog titled “Deep Thoughts About Motorcycles.”
“For those of you sitting behind your computer screens and attacking the police department for allowing this ‘act of terrorism’ to take place, let’s put this in proper perspective,” Ziman wrote.
When the officers responded, they didn’t have the luxury of watching all of the videos that have poured in after the fact, Ziman wrote. Instead, they were faced with hundreds of bikers pointing fingers at the driver of the truck and other witnesses who were pointing fingers at the bikers, she wrote.
“The handful of officers on scene were attempting to sort out all finger-pointing and it was extremely difficult to do so without the videos we are all now enjoying.” Ziman wrote.
Police have declined to answer further questions related to the incident – including how many officers responded – and said outside of the chief’s statement, “there will be no further elaboration.”
“I have full faith in the detectives of the Aurora Police Department investigations division who are sifting through video footage to try and determine who is culpable for the road rage incident,” Ziman wrote. “They will determine if any other criminal charges can be filed and attempt to identify the offender(s).”
Whether the incident results in charges depends on all facts gathered and a number of factors including the state’s attorney’s office, Ziman wrote.
“I want to be crystal clear with the bikers,” Ziman wrote. “Don’t come into our city and act like fools. When you drive down our city streets and pop wheelies and cut in and out of traffic, know you are not welcome. When you do what you did on Sunday, you give your hobby and other law-abiding bikers a bad name.”
Ziman reiterated that the city has “never had an issue” like this in the past and that in general, motorcyclists are welcome in Aurora.
“I would welcome a face to face with the group of motorcyclists so we can plan for your next visit should you choose to come back,” Ziman wrote. “No one was hurt. Life is moving on and we are all OK.”
