Street takeover by 200 ATVs, dirt bikes, motorcycles swarms Route 347 near Smith Haven Mall
Hundreds of off-road vehicles overtook streets in Hauppauge and Brentwood on Saturday afternoon, prompting a police response that ended in the arrest of three people — including one with a loaded gun — according to the Suffolk County Police Department.
The "street takeover" happened just before 4:30 p.m. when "at least 200 ATVs, dirtbikes and motorcycles" swarmed a section of Route 347 in Hauppauge near the Smith Haven Mall. Police impounded 10 of the vehicles, the agency wrote in a news release.
Video of the incident, obtained by Newsday, shows scores of ATVs and bikes crowding-out a section of roadway from shoulder-to-shoulder, performing wheelies as they sped by a parked car.
Police broke-up the gathering in Hauppauge before the suspects then regrouped further south in the Town of Islip.
Two ATVs broke down in Bay Shore around 6:30 p.m. and the suspects attempted to run away on foot. Police arrested one of the riders, 22-year-old Shamir Solomon, of Roosevelt, who was allegedly carrying a loaded gun.
One of the vehicles impounded by Suffolk police. Credit: SCPD
Solomon was charged with criminal possession of a weapon, along with multiple driving offenses. He was kept in jail overnight and is due to appear in Central Islip’s First District Court on Sunday.
Police also arrested two riders in Hauppauge — a 23-year-old Mount Sinai resident and a 29-year-old from Central Islip. Both were charged with running from police, reckless driving, and reckless endangerment. They were released on desk tickets.
A Suffolk police spokesman said it's not yet clear how the street takeover was organized.
Sam Kmack covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California and previously worked as a city watchdog reporter in the Phoenix metro area, as well as an investigative journalist at the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting.
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