Baltimore police target gas stations fueling illegal dirt bikes

Baltimore police are warning gas stations that selling fuel to illegal dirt bikes can carry fines of up to $1,000 and 90 days in jail, shifting the city’s enforcement strategy from the street to the supply chain behind it.

The move leans on both state law and city ordinance. Maryland law bars dispensing motor fuel into a dirt bike from a retail pump at a service station, and a conviction can bring up to 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both. The Baltimore Police Department says it is also illegal in Baltimore City for a service station or any other person to sell or dispense fuel for delivery into a dirt bike or unregistered vehicle.

Police are casting the effort as a public-safety measure, not just a quality-of-life crackdown. Dirt bikes have become a familiar sight in Baltimore neighborhoods, often in large groups that block streets and can keep other vehicles, including ambulances, from getting through. That risk sharpened after a May 5 crash on Liberty Heights Avenue, where a 37-year-old dirt-bike rider died after colliding with an SUV. Mayor Brandon Scott said after the crash that riding dirt bikes that way is extremely dangerous.

The gas-station focus is the latest version of an enforcement push Baltimore has tried before. On April 19, 2024, the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office and police announced a crackdown and said the problem typically gets worse in warm weather. Police also said then that they would pursue charges against parents or guardians who knowingly violate the city ordinance.

Some station operators are already changing how they do business. At the Marathon station at Cold Spring Lane and Falls Road, manager Vasu Adakari said the store shuts down pumps when dirt bikes approach so it can avoid penalties and not be accused of fueling riders. The tactic shows how the policy can affect clerks, managers and owners as much as the riders police are targeting.

The debate over illegal dirt bikes remains split between enforcement and alternatives. B-360, founded by Brittany Young, says it uses dirt bike culture to end the cycle of poverty, disrupt the prison pipeline and build bridges through STEM education and career preparation. Residents have also pressed City Hall for tougher action in places such as the Inner Harbor, where police estimated about 40 dirt bikes during a disruptive episode in early April, and in South Baltimore, where more than 800 residents called for crackdowns on dirt bikes, loitering and open-air drug markets in Federal Hill and Pigtown.

Police are urging residents to send tips, photos or voicemails about riders or storage locations to 443-902-4474, and the department also lists Dirtbiketips@Baltimorepolice.org as a contact. The test now is whether pressuring gas stations will measurably reduce dangerous riding, or whether it becomes another headline-heavy tactic that shifts the burden without changing the streets.