A massive roving sideshow came to an end on the Bay Bridge on Sunday with law enforcement officers impounding nearly 80 dirtbikes and ATVs and arresting nine people.

Oakland Police Chief James Beere said Monday that the group had been under investigation for about two months and that officers, including undercover officers and drone operators, were keeping tabs on participants as they established a staging area at an East Oakland park.

From there, the group headed to Lake Merritt, into Berkeley, back to Oakland and then over to San Francisco at about 4:45 p.m., Beere said during a news conference that included San Francisco Police Chief Derrick Lew and California Highway Patrol Golden Gate Division Chief Steve Ramos.

At some point, as the group was on the eastern span of the bridge headed back to Oakland, a large contingent of officers from all three jurisdictions moved in to make traffic stops, arrests and to impound vehicles.

The resulting traffic jam lasted for at least an hour.

“This isn’t over. We have resources dedicated just to track these people down that are engaging in this behavior.”
Oakland Police Chief James Beere

Beere said more than 100 officers were involved in the investigation, pursuits, arrests and impoundments and he expects more to come.

“This isn’t over,” Beere said. “We have resources dedicated just to track these people down that are engaging in this behavior.”

Beere also said he expects an arrest soon in an Uptown attack early Saturday morning that sent seven people to the hospital.

Beere said in that case, someone allegedly purposely drove onto a sidewalk and into a group of people at 18th Street near Telegraph Avenue at about 1:30 a.m.

The attack happened after large groups of people were hanging out in the area around the Fox Theater and several people were involved in a series of fights, Beere said.

The driver fled on foot but OPD has obtained an arrest warrant and Beere said he expects an arrest soon.

“This incident was not associated with the First Friday event,” Beere said, which was ended four hours before and about 10 blocks away.

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.