Police halt bikers' antics in city streets
August 10,2005
CHRIS MAZZOLINI
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Two motorcyclists were arrested Monday after separate incidents of reckless driving and attempting to flee arrest, the Jacksonville Police said Tuesday.
The first cyclist, 21-year-old Angel Luis Walker, a Marine with 1st Battalion, 6th Marines aboard Camp Lejeune, was arrested and charged with fleeing arrest with a motor vehicle, driving while license revoked, failure to stop at a stop sign, careless and reckless driving and exceeding posted speed, said Deputy Chief Paul Spring.
Spring said the arresting officer, on Saturday, observed a group of motorcycles along Lejeune Boulevard operating in a "careless manner," including one rider who was well ahead of the others and appeared to be standing on the seat of his motorcycle while speeding near 80 mph.
When the officer attempted to pull the group of motorcycles over, the lead driver sped away.
"The motorcycle sped off at an extremely high rate, well-over 100 mph," Spring said. According to a warrant, Walker is accused of driving more than 130 mph.
At that point, the officer ceased pursuit and, instead, pulled over the other motorcyclists, who identified Walker as the rider who sped away, Spring said. He said it was a smart decision made with the safety of the community in mind.
"The officer did an intelligent thing because the guy (on the motorcycle) was operating at an unsafe rate," he said. Common sense says if police stop chasing them, they will slow down."
The officer later contacted military officials and brought Walker into custody Monday, Spring said. Bond was set at $5,000.
Spring said the decision to break off pursuit is one taken very seriously by arresting officers and their supervisors. It's a judgment call based on the circumstances of the case, Spring said.
"We don't want to be a catalyst to harm someone," he said. "If we can gain enough info to collect them at a later date, we'll get them later."
The second incident occurred around 8 p.m. Monday when Kenneth Lagree III, 20, who told officers he lives on Wilmington Highway, was arrested and charged with felony fleeing arrest with a motor vehicle, two counts of careless and reckless driving, three counts of speeding including 100 mph along a 35-mph posted road and passing in a no passing zone.
Spring said the arresting officer observed a motorcyclist driving on Gum Branch Road, weaving through traffic at excessive speeds. The cyclist turned down Henderson Drive and was clocked by another officer at about 100 mph.
The cyclist was arrested without incident after turning into the parking lot of the Days Inn on the corner of Henderson and Marine Boulevard, Spring said.
While Spring said reckless driving on motorcycles is not a major concern, he did say there is always a small percentage who act irresponsibly.
"We don't see a whole lot of it, but there seems to be a trend where motorcycles are becoming more popular," he said. "Obviously as the popularity goes up, you'll get a small percentage that are going to act up and give a bad name to a large percentage.
"Most of the motorcycle drivers are very cautious because they know they don't have anything around them to protect them," he added.
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