By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – A 16-year-old Wyandotte boy riding a dirt bike in Memorial Park Nov. 3 attempted to outrun police before wiping out near Wedgewood and Stonewood, south of Sibley, in Riverview.
Officers said the boy was riding the dirt bike around the park, near Ludington and 20th Street, at a high rate of speed about 6:30 p.m., wearing no helmet, and jumping the small inclines and hills.
The nice weather had attracted people to the walking trail, and the boy was operating in disregard for their safety, police said.
The dirt bike had no headlamp, brake lights, tail lamp or turn signal, and did not display a license plate.
When an officer activated the patrol car lights to initiate a stop, the dirt bike rider accelerated and drove west through the park at a high rate of speed, forcing two pedestrians to run out of his way.
The teen reached 23rd Street and turned south to westbound Pennsylvania, then cut through a gas station to go south on Quarry Road, entering the city of Riverview. He then drove south on Quarry on the sidewalk, approaching speeds of 50 to 55 mph, forcing pedestrians to jump out of his way.
The two Wyandotte police vehicles lost sight of the dirt bike near Quarry and Longsdorf, and contacted Riverview police about the status of the pursuit.
Within 5 to 10 minutes Wyandotte dispatch told the Wyandotte officers that Riverview police had located the dirt bike rider on Stonewood at Wedgewood, south of Sibley, almost a mile-and-a-half away, where he had lost control of the dirt bike, then “dumped” it on the roadway, where it slid to a stop away from where he fell. Riverview police impounded the dirt bike.
Riverview Police Chief Cliff Rosebohm said the teen was taken to Beaumont South Shore Hospital by the Riverview Fire Department.
“His injuries at this point are not life-threatening,” Rosebohm said the day of the crash. “The only damage to anything is the rider of the motorcycle and the motorcycle itself.”
(Sue Suchyta can be reached at [email protected].)