At least a dozen motorcyclists, dirt bike, and ATV riders were caught on camera riding down Riverside Drive Sunday. Now three of them are under arrest, and there is thousands of dollars in damage to Tom Lee Park.
The Memphis River Parks Partnership President said it will cost $3,500 to patch up the tread marks; money which must come out of other places in the budget.
While Memphis Police records lay out one story, two of those arrested disputed police accounts to Local 24’s Brad Broders on the phone Tuesday afternoon.
Precious Ballentine faces reckless driving and other charges, and officers took George Joy into custody at a North Main gas station after authorities said he hit a police cruiser with his ATV.
Officers also arrested Angelica Deener. She’s accused of blocking police officers from traffic stops of other dirt bike and ATV drivers.
Ballentine told Local 24 she was driving her dirt bike illegally but did not drive on the Tom Lee Park grass. Deener said the allegations laid out in her affidavit are false.
So what did Mid-Southerners have to say about what happened?
“Be responsible and stop doing all this senseless stuff. It makes no sense. It really doesn’t,” said Vickie Lusby.
“You keep seeing Memphis get better and better and then dummies like that come and they screw it up for everyone,” said Bobby Meeks.
“Taxpayer money, they’ve got them doing some frivolous stuff when they could be doing something more important and the risk of having injuries with traffic violations,” said Lusby.
Carol Coletta with the Memphis River Parks Partnership said, “It’s so upsetting, and we hate it because a very small percentage of people try to ruin things for the 99% of people who use these parks responsibly.”
MPD leader said added patrols are planned at this park. They say more arrests could be made.
