Police Crack Down On 'Bike Night'

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- A controversy is brewing at the Bakersfield Municipal Airport over a weekly gathering of motorcyclists. Police officers stepped in forbidding bikers from taking part Tuesday night.

Over the last few weeks, around a hundred motorcyclists have gathered at the Rocket Shop Cafe, riding on the runways of the municipal airport after hours. Tuesday night, several motorcycle officers patrolled the runway, citing at least one rider for trespassing.

"[The bikers]were turned away by Bakersfield P.D. after 3 or 4 weeks of riding in a controlled environment," motorcyclist Brandon Stallworth said.

"And they were told in short that BPD would rather see them out on the street doing moving felonies than exercising in a controlled environment."

Police officers made the city's message clear: if bikers ride on the runway, they will be cited.

"This was all designed to keep us off the streets, but I guess if we're not out on the street and those guys aren't out there acting a fool [the police] are not going to be getting tickets," Wayne Gallagher, one of the event's organizers, said.

"And cops can't have that because that's a huge source of their revenue."

The airport is city property, and thus meant for airplane traffic.

John Harmon, owner of the Rocket Shop Cafe, says the city made no objection to him about having bikers riding on the runway.

He wishes the city would have made its intentions clear, instead of sending police officers to break up the weekly gathering. "They see there's some liability for the bikers out here on the ramp, but with no airplanes around, I didn't see a problem with it," he said.

Many of the riders said "no trespassing" signs are not on the premises. One of the riders was cited by police officers for that violation.

"I think they went about it all wrong," Randy Likins, who was cited for trespassing, said.

"They could've just stopped us at the gate and told us we weren't allowed to be in here, instead of hiding and trying to catch the first guy doing something wrong."

"Bike Night" was one of the lasting legacies of Jared "Lee" Brown, killed by a hit-and-run driver earlier this month. He helped organize the gathering.

"He's probably looking down right now and probably thinking to himself, 'Same old Bakersfield,'" Gallagher said. "You know, try to get something good going and they nip it in the butt before it grows."