Law enforcement authorities and elected officials are once again seeking to end the city of Albany's perennial dirt bike problem.
Illegal ATVs and dirt bikes are back on city streets. Riders continue to taunt police and firefighters in what has become an annual problem. Now the Albany County Sheriff and city of Albany Common Council are taking action, after an 18-year-old University at Albany student was struck and seriously injured as she walked with friends along Hudson Avenue the night of April 26.
Alexa Kropf’s roommate and best friend Elizabeth Louis spoke with Newschannel 13. "She got hit, and then I ran up to her and held her in my arms, and she started seizing. The guy fell off his bike and I yelled at him. I was like, 'You can’t leave, you can’t leave her here!' And he just looked at me, flipped me off, and he just kept going," Louis said.
Kropf's injuries were so severe she was placed in a medically induced coma from which she has since awakened. Her family says she faces a long recovery.
A few days after Kropf was struck, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple announced his deputies had seized 10 illegal dirt bikes. "We've got a beautiful young lady," Apple said. "She's fighting for her life in the hospital. And enough is enough. I mean, last year, we were criticized for chasing the dirt bikes. Everybody's like, 'no, no, don't do it. Don't do it.' And now we've got a young lady in the hospital. So where do we draw the line? Where do we draw the line? Enough is enough, these people are terrorizing communities, not just Albany. They're terrorizing Colonie, Bethlehem, Guilderland. Even the hill towns, they're running on the streets, and it's illegal. They're going to kill somebody. We've already seen somebody severely injured, and enough is enough. So we're cracking down. So it's not a coincidence. It's purely as a result of that young girl being hit in the street."
10th ward common councilor Owusu Anane says the city has been dealing with these "bad actors" for years, and it is unacceptable that the Kropf family has to face this crisis.
“This council took strong action on this issue where we passed Local Law E of 2021, legislation that banned ATVs and dirt bikes from operating in our city, and levied a hefty penalty on vehicles operated, and the owners," Anane said. "But clearly, that's not enough. But as we see, we must do more to ensure the safety of our residents. This resolution before us tonight calls for additional law enforcement attention to these illegal dirt bikes, as well as greater penalties at the state level, to help dissuade individuals from engaging in this reckless action in the first place.”
In 2021 Mayor Kathy Sheehan signed legislation banning ATVs and dirt bikes from city streets and parks. 15th ward councilor Tom Hoey chairs the Public Safety Committee.
"We pass these laws to make sure this stuff doesn't happen. And unless it's enforced, it's really it's not worth doing. So definitely, I think the Public Safety Committee will have to bring in the police department," said Hoey. "We need to find out what's been going on the last three years that we're not picking these bikes up, and yet the county comes in and is able to do it."
Hoey tells WAMC he is working on the details and plans to bring in City Police Chief Eric Hawkins and Sheriff Apple.
Monday night the Albany Common Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for the state to take stricter measures on penalizing people who break local laws on the vehicles.
Second Ward councilor Derek Johnson supported the new resolution but says more needs to be done: "We have to have expectations on the mayor's office and APD because this stuff shouldn't be going on as long as it's been going on and things that we don't address, as I've said, they don't get smaller, they get larger. So I will be supporting it. But I also think that we are have, we're going to have to get stronger on our expectations. Because although we did pass it, there's been really no enforcement of it. And we shouldn't just be 'knee jerk reaction' to when things happen critically like this," Johnson said.
Apple says it’s not just city residents riding the dirt bikes. "It's people that are coming from surrounding towns, coming into the city, offloading their motorcycle not all are dirt bikes. Some are street legal bikes that are uninsured and unregistered. They're street legal by means of them actually being made for the streets, but those people were targeting as well. So if you're hauling your dirt bike or your motorcycle into the city, expect to be introduced to us," said Apple.
The mayor’s office says police are working to arrest a suspect and adds anyone who sees the vehicles in action is asked to call 518-438-4000 with tips.
