YouTube video shows police pursuing dirt bike riders

A video is posted on YouTube with the message "make it go viral". It was recorded by someone on a bike wearing a camera and shows other dirt bike riders breaking traffic laws while flying along Torresdale Avenue in Wissinoming. But the person who posted it also points out what they say is also dangerous. It's a police SUV apparently pursuing the bikers just before one of them collided with a cop car.

Skyfox flew over the scene at Torresdale and Howell Street where it happened yesterday evening. Justin McMonagle came outside just after the crash.

"Be ready for the consequences no matter what they are if you're going to break them. You're putting yourself in that position," he said.

Police say an 18-year old speeding on a dirt bike collided with a police cruiser as police were making a turn onto Howell from Torresdale. The teen is in the hospital in critical condition.
The video is raising concerns about whether police should have been pursuing the bikers.

"Laws are in place for a reason. If you're going to break them and get hit that's not their fault but then again a cop shouldn't be chasing them in a car. Call a bike unit. I mean there's a problem either way on both halves. On the people's half and the law enforcement's half," said McMonagle.

A police spokesperson tells us the accident is still being investigated. They're waiting on a report from AID, Accident Investigation Division. Joe Meyers lives across the street from where it happened.

"There's 10 sometimes 15 of them. They're doing wheelies, they're going in and around cars. I just can't see the police stopping them unless you have 15 cops on the street there's no way," he said.

As for the teen now in the hospital Meyers says he feared something like this would one day happen.

"it's just a shame that it happened. I feel sorry for the boy but it keeps going on every night," said Meyers.

It's unclear whether the police vehicle that collided with the teen is the same one seen on the video pursuing the bikers.

It's illegal to ride dirt bikes or ATV's on city streets. But Philadelphia Police also have a policy that prohibits police pursuits for traffic violations.