Danbury Mayor on Illegal ATVs and Dirt Bikes: ‘They’re Gonna Get Killed or Kill Someone’

The Danbury Police Department was busy this past weekend dealing with illegal dirt bikes and ATVs. Danbury Mayor Joe Cavo told us there were at least two arrests over the weekend related to illegal bikes.

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Detective Lieutenant Mark Williams told us "as we are prohibited from pursuing these violators, it is very difficult to identify operators" but offered: "we're trying to catch them". Williams also said that dispatchers were calling in a lot of "reckless MV operators" in general.

Mayor Joe Cavo is taking this very seriously and believes the consequences could easily turn fatal, saying:

"They lack the safety equipment, usually the operators lack the safety equipment required to operate them, you know in a safe manner, it's just dangerous. Either they're gonna get killed or someone's going to wind up being in an accident with them and it's gonna, if they get killed God forbid, it's going to ruin that person's life."

Later, the Mayor shared more about what the city may be able to do to deter these illegal riders, saying:

"I've seen some sample ordinances from other places, other states where if you get caught on it, they seize it and destroy it. I think that's what I'm going to be looking for in this, asking the council to approve an ordinance that would grant the police the ability to seize them and then destroy them."

They spoke about the issue of illegal dirt bikes in a recent intereview Tuesday morning. Lou Milano shared his perspective as a Downtown resident.

I made jokes about not being able to catch me if I were riding but the Mayor made clear to us that's not what the P.D. does. He said: "they don't chase them because someone's going to really get killed if we chase them."

There could have been more arrests over the weekend for illegal riders based on the amount of bikes out and the aggressive maneuvers made, it was a wild scene out there, just wild.