NYPD Seizes Unlicensed Scooters to Combat Crime

Photo byRowan FreemanonUnsplash

The NYPD is taking a tough stance against unlicensed scooters because, in recent months, moped-riding bandit robberies have become a common occurrence around the city.

On Wednesday night, police raided migrant centers spread across the five boroughs, seizing and transporting on a flatbed several dozen illicit electric motorcycles, according to ABC7.

The station claimed that the bikes that were seized either had stolen license plates or were not registered.

Many immigrants serve food to New Yorkers using applications like GrubHub, Seamless, and Uber Eats while commuting on mopeds and scooters. However, authorities claim that thieves have also utilized scooters to swiftly flee with stolen goods after stealing the wallets, phones, jewelry, and purses of pedestrians.

“We are seeing an uptick of scooter robberies in the city, particularly in Manhattan, where individuals are on scooters, normally two on a scooter, and they’re taking their cell phones, AirPods, Beats, wallets, purses,” NYPD Assistant Commissioner Kaz Daughtry said. “We’re going to be over aggressively going after these scooters and mopeds on city streets.”

The NYPD reports that in the past two months, at least 17 scooter-related robberies have occurred in Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx. According to authorities, in at least two of the crimes, the victims were forcefully thrown to the ground after the suspects, who rode scooters, snatched purses from their arms and shoulders. On January 10, police reported, an 11-year-old girl's chains were ripped off her neck by a man on a scooter in Queens.

An additional risk is posed by the scooters' illegal lithium-ion batteries, which have a history of exploding and starting swiftly-moving flames.

After a November fire begun by one of the batteries killed members of three generations of one Crown Heights family, Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said, "These illegal, uncertified devices are ticking time bombs."