Police have released video footage showing a reckless biker’s rampage through residential streets before our officers caught him hiding in a porch.
Declan McCalla is the latest rider to be convicted in court of dangerous driving after we ran a series of operations targeting anti-social bikers during the CoVID-19 lockdown.
The 25-year-old, from Purcell Road in Bushbury, appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court on yesterday (2 Feb) where he was jailed for 14 months.
One of our police bikers spotted McCalla on Good Friday last year – while most people were adhering to the government’s stay-at-home order – on board a white Yamaha MT07 motorbike.
The bike was on cloned plates and checks on police systems showed the VRM matched an orange bike registered in Preston.
McCalla sped away from the traffic cop and reached speeds of up to 90mph in 30 zones as he performed shocking overtakes, ran red lights, drove the wrong way around traffic islands and mounted pavements.
He was pursued for around eight miles before going off-road across a football pitch by Ruskin Road and dumping the bike before running off towards houses.
Officers contained the scene and one of our police dogs sniffed McCalla out lying low in the porch of a house in Bushbury Lane.
McCalla went on to admit dangerous driving and riding without a licence or insurance.
Traffic Sergeant Mitch Darby, said: “The standard of McCalla’s riding was truly shocking; he ramped up pavements and sped across public parks. He could easily have put pedestrians at risk of serious injury.
“But it was all the more outrageous given that we caught him during the middle of the CoVID-19 lockdown. People were being urged to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives – but McCalla used the quiet roads to drive at excess speed and pull stunts.
“Anti-social off-road biking is a real concern for our communities. We’ve responded by running operations to catch offenders and they will continue throughout the summer.
“Anyone who rides dangerously – or rides an off-road bike illegally on public roads or in parks – runs the risk of being arrested and having their bike seized and crushed.”