Los Angeles police shut down a stretch of the Sixth Street Bridge to detain dozens of minibike riders, impounding an estimated 80 bikes in a coordinated operation aimed squarely at the city's illegal street takeover scene. Officers had pre-positioned themselves throughout the city in spots known to be popular with the riders, then followed the group into position on the bridge where they could be safely stopped and corralled.
LAPD Deputy Chief German Hurtado, commanding officer of the department's Central Bureau, said officers had been tracking this particular group of minibike riders, who were already known to police for the activity, according to KTLA. Once stopped, the riders faced citations for various violations and had their minibikes impounded. The operation drew participation from the California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, and the LAPD Street Racing Task Force, all working alongside the department to corral the group in a location where the bridge itself could serve as a chokepoint.
Why Minibikes Are Illegal on City Streets in the First Place
Hurtado said the enforcement applies whether the riders are juveniles or adults, and stressed that minibikes simply cannot be operated in the street. Any vehicle used on public roads has to meet criteria set by the Department of Motor Vehicles, and stock minibikes fall well short of that bar. That legal reality is spelled out in California Vehicle Code Section 21720, which specifically prohibits operating a pocket bike on a sidewalk, roadway, other highway areas, bikeways, bicycle paths or trails, and certain public lands statewide, according to Justia Law. The cited analysis also mentions a 48-hour impound, per the Scholarly Commons.
The KTLA report also describes traffic violations. Riding has also led to injuries among innocent victims who had nothing to do with the stunts themselves.
A Bridge With a Troubled History
The Sixth Street Bridge, or Sixth Street Viaduct, has been magnet trouble since it opened on July 9, 2022. The span connecting Downtown L.A. to Boyle Heights was forced to shut down four separate times within its first five days of operation because of illegal takeovers, drag racing, and reckless stunts, according to the Los Angeles Times. Later that same month, the city's Bureau of Street Services installed speed humps along the deck, the paper reported separately. Those physical fixes clearly haven't ended the problem, since officers this week again used the bridge as a strategic spot to trap and stop riders rather than let them scatter.
Hoodline previously covered a public safety incident on the span involving a shirtless man atop the bridge, part of a pattern of unusual and dangerous activity that has plagued the crossing since it opened.
Takeovers Tied to Injuries and Retail Ransacking
The minibike sweep lands against a backdrop of escalating consequences from L.A.'s broader street takeover scene. A young man and woman were struck by a vehicle during a July street takeover, with the man suffering a serious head injury and the woman a devastating lower-leg injury, per the KTLA account. A 21-year-old Santa Barbara man was arrested on August 6 in connection with that incident. Illegal takeovers have also served as cover for thieves who break into and ransack nearby businesses once police attention is focused on the road chaos, the outlet reported, though it remains unclear whether anyone has been arrested in connection with a Bellflower liquor store and car wash break-in tied to a similar takeover, where an estimated $30,000 in merchandise and property was lost.
Hoodline has documented that same pattern repeatedly across the region this year, including a masked mob hitting a Bellflower gas station and a South LA grocery store ransacked by 20 people during a pre-dawn takeover. Just days before the bridge operation, on September 7, the LAPD conducted an operation in the Harbor Gateway neighborhood, resulting in 69 arrests and the impoundment of 200 cars, according to footage shared by ABC7 Los Angeles.
Legal Penalties Keep Climbing
State lawmakers have steadily raised the stakes for takeover participants in recent years. California Assembly Bill 2807 redefines sideshows and street takeovers in state law and gives courts the authority to suspend a convicted participant's driver's license for 90 days to six months, per reporting on the law's impact. Separately, Vehicle Code Section 23109.2 gives police agencies the authority to impound vehicles involved in speed contests or takeovers for up to 30 days, a tool the LAPD Street Racing Task Force has used in its enforcement efforts, according to LAPD Online.
Los Angeles County officials have also addressed takeovers beyond the drivers, as Hoodline reported in its coverage of the countywide crackdown effort. That same reporting discussed a takeover in Carson, underscoring why officials across the county have treated the gatherings as a public safety emergency rather than a nuisance.
