SerpApi.Org
WEST HAVEN — Connecticut State Police are investigating an incident in which a pack of dirt bike and ATV riders surrounded a car on Interstate 95 in West Haven Sunday.
The incident happened around 8:20 p.m. Sunday in the northbound lanes of the highway near exits 43 and 44, according to a dispatch recording reviewed by CT Insider.
Traffic camera photos from the scene showed a group that also included motorcycle, trike and scooter riders surround a dark-colored SUV in the left lane.
"They're trying to open the vehicle, but the vehicle is on the move," a dispatcher said on the recording. The dispatcher later reported one of the dirt bikes had been struck.
The photos showed some of the riders, on foot, leaning into the car's open driver window.
Another voice reported the group was "punching into the car."
The recording indicated the driver, whose vehicle had New Jersey plates, later continued northbound on I-95 while the riders got off at Exit 44 in New Haven.
The state police public information office confirmed the incident was under investigation, but did not provide further details.
The incident comes as cities and towns around the nation have tried to grapple with groups of reckless riders on dirt bikes and ATVs. In New Haven, the city's crackdown includes steep penalties for riders, as well as fines for gas stations that allow them to fill up.
Last year, the city began crushing seized dirt bikes and ATVs. The vehicles had languished in shipping containers, but a state law passed earlier in 2025 allowed municipalities to destroy them.
