Holly MatkinBronx, NY – A lone New York police officer found himself being circled by a mob of people on ATVs and dirt bikes during a harrowing standoff outside a Hunts Point gas station (video below).
The incident occurred near Edgewater Road and Bruckner Boulevard at approximately 4:15 p.m. on Sunday, the New York Daily News reported.
The group of bikers had been riding dangerously in the area, so an officer with the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) 41st Precinct pulled up to speak with them.
But as the officer approached, one of the riders dropped his yellow dirt bike onto the pavement and took off running, the New York Daily News reported.
The officer parked his patrol car next to the abandoned bike and attempted to seize it, at which point the swarming crew began zipping around him on all sides, WCBS reported.
While the lone officer focused his attention on the bikers in front of him, another member of the group ran around the patrol car and attempted to steal the dirt bike back from him, the video showed.
The suspect abandoned the effort when the officer began running towards him with a Taser in his hand.
“Come get it!” the officer yelled at the crew.
“The officer was attempting to take the vehicle into possession when the group started to circle their bikes around him,” a, NYPD spokeswoman told the New York Daily News on Wednesday. “One of the individuals attempted to take the bike from the officer at which point the officer took his Taser out.”
The crew fled the area when backup officers arrived at the scene, and are now wanted for obstruction of governmental administration, WCBS reported.
None of the officers were injured during the incident.
You can watch cell phone footage of the tense encounter in the video below: