Exclusive: NYPD cracks down on illegal scooters amid investigation into officers attacked
NEW YORK (WABC) -- An army of police fanned out at migrant facilities throughout the city Wednesday night to target a problem that's exploded in recent months: unregistered scooters.
Eyewitness News was on the scene as officers cracked down on the issue, they say has become a persistent quality of life issue in Manhattan.
"We had to come here, and we had to do our job," said NYPD Assistant Commissioner Kaz Daughtry.
The first order of business was they went for the bikes.
Dozens of bikes without registrations were confiscated, some with plates stolen off other bikes somewhere in the city.
All of them were immediately carted away on a police flatbed.
Wednesday's operation was about a lot more than illegal bikes, as it comes after Saturday night's melee near Times Square, where a dozen men -- believed to be asylum seekers -- attacked two police officers.
Five were arrested on the spot.
"Nobody's going home tonight until we find the guys who assaulted our cops," assured Daughtry.
Police arrested the man dressed in yellow in the video and are still on the hunt for as many as five more.
"We're not going to tolerate individuals attacking out cops," said Daughtry. "That's not going to happen. We will comb this globe to look for you and bring you to justice."
NYPD Asst. Commissioner Daughtry led teams of cops who scoured the area around the Row Hotel, a migrant center in Hell's Kitchen, and they inspected more of those bikes, which have been involved in a growing number of robberies and the focus of police citywide for weeks.
"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," said Daughtry. "We're going to be over aggressively going after these scooters and moped on city streets."
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