Teens among 11 arrested during illegal ATV, dirt bike riding crackdown

ATLANTA — Eleven people, including two teenagers, were arrested during a crackdown on all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes operating illegally on city streets, Atlanta police said.

It was part of a joint operation between Atlanta police and the Georgia State Patrol, Atlanta police Sgt. John Chafee said in a statement to our investigative partners at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and AJC.com.

Atlanta police said they impounded 14 vehicles and six guns were recovered. Two of the guns had been stolen, police said.

On the day of the arrests, 15-year-old Quemond Barkley, the operator of a dirt bike, was killed after he crashed into a Dodge Charger at the intersection of Sylvan Road and Dill Avenue, the Georgia State Patrol said. A passenger on the bike was listed as stable Sunday evening.

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"I'm still, like, in shock. I can't believe it. That's my baby," said Lisa Barkley, Quemond Barkley's mother.

Lisa Barkley told Channel 2's Matt Johnson she never worried about her son when he would ride dirt bikes on city streets.

"He's been riding since he was little so he knows how to ride dirt bikes," she said.

She said he enjoyed it and he was always as safe as possible.

"He had the helmet on. He knew to have his helmet on," she said.

Even after the loss of her son, Lisa Barkley said getting ATVs and dirt bikes off city streets should not be a priority for police.

"The kids out here stealing cars and stuff like that but when they have their own ride or transportation, let them ride, they really (are) not really harming nobody," she said.

Sgt. John Chafee said the police response is to protect the public, including the riders.

"There's concerns on both ends and it's something we have to address so that's what we did," he said.

Quemon Barkley's mother said her son wasn't out to cause trouble, he just wanted to do what he loved.

"He never hung in the streets with nobody," she said.

A GoFundMe campaign has been created to help Lisa Barkley with funeral expenses for her son. You can donate here.

The police department said they had a successful operation over the weekend and that is likely to continue.

“We understand this isn’t something that’s going to go away just because we ran one detail, we understand more work is going to have to go into this, and we're ready to do that,” Chafee said.

GSP officials said the crash was not the result of a pursuit.

Cox Media Group