In New Haven's criminal justice system, there are those who ride loud, illegal vehicles, and those who go after them. They're now known as the Quad Squad. This is their story:
In a neighborhood crowded with kids, Lily Farmer is sick and tired of hearing illegal dirt bikes and ATVs roar past her home.
"They're loud and they're dangerous," she said.
This weekend, police chief James Lewis answered her complaint. And the complaints of those who visited this website to report neighborhood issues.
The New Haven police department launched the Quad Squad, to go after these menacing motorists. In just a few hours, the officers assigned to the squad seized a dozen of the vehicles.
"It got to the point where on weekends you would see packs of 8 or 10 of these bikes or quads going down the streets, often on their back wheels, out of control, against traffic, roaring through lights," said Lewis.
Police began cracking down last year after Quinell Payne, 15, was killed after he ran a stop sign and crashed into a van while driving a stolen dirt bike.
Lewis dismissed a no-pursuit policy: "We're going to do everything we can legally to stop these in as safe a manner as possible."
That's welcome news for Lily Farmer. "I'd like to see them take them off the street, it's very disturbing."
