DC police search for ATV rider who hit 2 police officers, seriously injuring 1

WASHINGTON - Police in D.C. are searching for the person who allegedly hit two officers with an ATV, sending them to the hospital and leaving one with serious injuries.

MPD says both of their officers are now at home recovering but one’s injuries are still pretty bad. The officers were hit by a person on an ATV near the Sunoco gas station on the corner of U and 15th Streets around 8:15 p.m. Saturday.

According to MPD, the officers were attempting to stop a number of people on illegal bikes moments before one of the drivers knocked them down and left the scene. Neighbors who live on 15th Street and heard the sirens following the incident that night say, unfortunately, this isn’t a surprise.

"I think it’s just tragic," Kenlae Ray said.

There have been a number of incidents on and around U Street and even near the National Mall where groups of people on dirt bikes swarm these areas, making noise and raising a lot of safety concerns.

"Not unexpected. I’ve seen how the ATVs tear in and out of there with pedestrians on the sidewalks and it’s dangerous," said neighbor Bo Billups.

ATVs are illegal to ride on D.C. public streets but it’s important to note that the District has a ‘no chase’ policy that makes it harder to stop them.

"The question I have is — my understanding is that the ATVs are illegal and so why are they here with such frequency and riding up and down U Street, joyriding in both lanes stopping traffic?" Billups said. "It is dangerous and it’s our neighborhood. It’s not a dirt bike park."

Neighbors who live on U Street say they’ve been dealing with ATVs for years but things start to get out of hand as the weather starts to warm up.

"We’ve had terrible problems with them. Sometimes, it will be as many as 20, 25, there just gathered and we’ve had sometimes they’ve circled in the streets doing wheelies and sometimes on the sidewalk," Ray said.

Police are asking anyone who can help them identify the driver on the bike to call them or leave an anonymous tip.