Man says group of ATV riders damaged his car

ATLANTA — Police are vowing to stop ATV riders after they hit the streets of metro Atlanta once again last weekend.

One witness told Channel 2's Matt Johnson that one of the riders damaged his car.

Cellphone video shows some of the ATV and dirt bike riders that Todd Craig said were everywhere he looked Sunday.

“I have not seen a group that big before,” Craig said.

The downtown Atlanta homeowner said he was on Peachtree and Forsyth streets around 5 p.m. Sunday and had nowhere to go.

He said one of the riders broke both of his rearview mirrors.

“In the next half a block, I was being assaulted by a (driver of a) two-wheel bike on my left who kicked my door,” Craig told Johnson.

Videos obtained by Channel 2 Action News show riders on Interstate 75, on Peachtree Street and off Covington Highway in DeKalb County on Sunday.

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Craig said he rides a motorized scooter and supports the legal use of ATVs and dirt bikes, but said there is a reason they're not street legal.

“The thrill of it for them is the lawlessness and is the law breaking, and is the joy and the thrill of terrorizing other people,” Craig said.

"We typically do not pursue these vehicles with our patrol cars, because the vehicles can easily go off-road and elude capture, potentially creating even more dangerous situations," a representative from the Atlanta Police Department said in a statement. "We do take these violations seriously and have strategies in place to capture and arrest riders, and impound their vehicles."

“They talk about endangering other rides, but we're already endangered,” Craig said.

Craig told Johnson that a zero tolerance policy could help end an ongoing problem.

“It's very defiant, and it's not the society that most of us want to live in,” he said.

Atlanta police said they arrested a man in southwest Atlanta Sunday night and charged him with traffic and drug charges.

They made the arrest once his ATV stalled and he tried to run away.

Cox Media Group