THE NYPD IS asking for the public’s help identifying the motorcycle seen in the attached video who they say is sought in connection with an attempted assault of two on-duty NYPD officers that occurred at 3555 Bainbridge Avenue in Norwood on Thursday, March 14, 2024. Video courtesy of the NYPD

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated from the original version with the latest information shared by the NYPD and EMS.

The NYPD is asking for the public’s help identifying a motorcycle rider seen in the attached video who they say is sought in connection with an attempted assault on two on-duty NYPD officers in a marked police vehicle in Norwood.

Police said the incident unfolded on Thursday, March 14, at around 6.17 p.m. when two uniformed, on-duty NYPD officers were traveling in a marked police vehicle in front of 3555 Bainbridge Avenue. A police spokesperson said, “An unknown, unidentified male motorist, recklessly operating a blue, two-wheeled vehicle did approach the rear of the police vehicle and threw a brick towards the rear of the vehicle, causing damage.”

The spokesperson continued, “The individual fled the location on the blue, two-wheeled vehicle southbound on Bainbridge Avenue towards East Gun Hill Road. There were no injuries reported as a result of this incident.”

Police said the person sought is described as male, has a dark complexion, is around 18 to 25 years old, and was wearing all black clothing.

As reported, a collision at Van Cortlandt Avenue and the Grand Concourse in nearby Bedford Park, involving a red ATV (all-terrain vehicle) and a blue 2017 Nissan sedan, took place on the same evening at around the same time. A police spokesperson had earlier told Norwood News that prior to that collision, police had observed “a roving band,” meaning a group of motorcycle and ATVs traveling in a pack, in the vicinity of nearby Jerome Avenue and East Mosholu Parkway South at 6.13 p.m. and had put word out of the group over the police radio. He said the group subsequently dispersed in different directions. Click here to read the full story.

After some earlier, initial conflicting reports about whether there had or had not been a collision in Bedford Park, police reported that the NYPD’s collision investigation squad had indeed been called to Van Cortlandt Avenue and the Grand Concourse.

A GROUP OF motorcycle and ATV riders is seen traveling north along the Grand Concourse in the Tremont section of The Bronx on Thursday, March 14, 2024. Video by David Greene

Earlier on Thursday evening, there had also been some separate, unconfirmed reports of a separate possble collision at nearby East Gun Hill Road and Bainbridge Avenue in Norwood. When we asked police about this earlier on Thursday, a spokesperson said they didn’t have any record of any separate collision at that location. As above, it has since been reported as an assault.

Helicopters were seen and heard flying over Norwood and Bedford Park from around 6 p.m.

At the Bedford Park collision, one female resident who declined to be identified told Norwood News she saw around 20 riders on motorcycles / ATVs traveling on Paul Avenue towards Lehman College in Bedford Park around the time the Bedford Park collision occurred.

A GROUP OF motorcycle and ATV riders is seen traveling down the Grand Concourse by East 204th Street on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. Video by Síle Moloney

A group of motorcycle and ATV riders had been seen by Norwood News on Tuesday, March 12, at around 5 p.m. traveling at high speed and breaking red lights up and down the Grand Concourse in the same general vicinity as where Thursday’s collision occurred. A video is attached to this story. When we asked a resident if she had also seen the group on Tuesday, she said, “I’ve seen a lot of those, yeah. They’re very reckless. I mean they’re very scary. All those motorcycles in general are terrifying.”

We asked if she had witnessed the riders breaking the red lights, as was seen on March 12. The woman said, “Um, I don’t think I’ve paid attention to that but they’re very reckless, and there’s always, usually, like a group, right? Yeah, I have seen them on like Jerome [Avenue] over there.”

One Norwood News reporter had also seen a group of motorcycle and ATV riders traveling at speed on the Grand Concourse in the Tremont area earlier on Thursday evening, March 14. It’s unknown if it was the same group as was later seen by police at Mosholu Parkway and Jerome Avenue in Bedford Park. A video is also attached of the Tremont sighting.

Norwood News contacted the NYPD to ask about a separate, unconfirmed report of a brick being thrown at a police officer possibly in Tremont on the same evening prior to the Bedford Park collision and were informed they had no record of this. As above, it seems this incident occurred in Norwood in the end, not Tremont.

Meanwhile, Norwood News later received a report of a separate, possibly fatal accident at 1400 Pelham Parkway South in the Morris Park section of The Bronx on Thursday evening, March 14, reportedly involving a motorcycle and an ambulance.

We contacted FDNY / EMS who said they received a call at 6.49 p.m. for a report of a motor vehicle accident at Eastchester Road and Pelham Parkway South and transported one civilian to Jacobi Medical Center. Their condition was unknown, the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also confirmed that an EMS ambulance was involved and that an investigation was being conducted We also contacted the NYPD who later confirmed that at around 6.50 p.m. on March 14, police responded to a 911 call regarding a motor vehicle collision at the intersection of Eastchester Road and Pelham Parkway.

“Further investigation by the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad (CIS) determined that a 2019 Suzuki motorcycle, operated by a 23-year-old male, was traveling westbound on Pelham Parkway approaching the intersection of Eastchester Road when an FDNY ambulance, operated by a 25-year-old male on-duty EMT, was traveling northbound on Eastchester Road. As the ambulance entered the intersection it was struck on the passenger side by the motorcycle.”

The NYPD continued, “EMS responded and transported the 23-year-old male to NYC Health and Hospitals/Jacobi where he was subsequently pronounced deceased. The 25-year-old male operator and 21-year-old male passenger of the ambulance were transported by EMS to a local area hospital in stable condition. The investigation remains ongoing by the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad.”

Police said the identity of the deceased is being withheld pending family notification.

In collision investigations, the NYPD handles all criminal aspects of the investigation, while NYC DOT reviews the street design at the locations of such crashes.

Norwood News previously reported on a major crackdown on scooters, motorcycles and ATVs when the 52nd Precinct unveiled a stash of unregistered bikes they seized in August 2022.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are strictly confidential.

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story referred to the two-wheeled vehicles involved as e-bikes. In fact, the NYPD could not confirm if the two-wheeled vehicles involved were motorcycles or e-bikes. We have updated the wording in the meantime to motorcycles. An ATV can be gas-powered or electric. 

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.