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Man dies after being beaten by swarm of dirt bike, ATV riders in Harlem

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Updated  November 23, 2022 5:30pm EST
Harlem
FOX 5 NY

Man dies after beating by sawm of ATV and dirt bike riders

Arthur Cooke, 45, has died two weeks after he was brutally assaulted by a gang of ATV and dirt bike riders in Harlem following a fender bender.

NEW YORK - A man has died after getting brutally assaulted by a gang of ATV and dirt bike riders earlier this month.

Arthur Cooke, 45, suffered severe injuries to his neck and spine as a result of the attack and died in the hospital two weeks after the violent attack.  

Authorities say the November 4 assault happened around 10 p.m. on East 125th Street. One of the riders hit Cooke’s passenger-side mirror. Cooke got out to survey the damage and the riders attacked him.

A father of a young child, Cooke died from his injuries on November 18.  

"We were devastated," said Carmen Arroyo, Senior Director at Exodus Transitional Community.  

RELATED: Mob on bikes pull father, son from car, beat and rob them, cops say

Cooke’s death was unexpected, and his friends and coworkers at Exodus Transitional Community believe— it was unprovoked.

"I don’t know how this could happen to somebody who was so loved in the community," Arroyo said. "How this could happen in this day and age when there are some many cameras all over and police officers patrolling the area?"

This summer, Mayor Eric Adams made a show of demolishing 92 illegal vehicles, vowing to step up enforcement, after a father and son were attacked by a group on dirt bikes in Harlem in March.

"I’m tired of these dirt bikes and three-wheelers," said Adams.

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Nearly six months later, as the NYPD looks for Cooke’s murderers, FOX 5 reached out for specifics on the so-called stepped-up enforcement. They responded:

"The NYPD is aggressively pursuing every method to rid our streets of illegal dirt bikes and ATV’s."

That includes a shared effort by multiple bureaus, towing the vehicles when they’re parked, and tracking them when residents report the mobs.  This year, 30,000 drivers have been issued tickets, 3,000 motorcycles have been towed, and 9,190 Dirt bikes/ ATV’s have been seized.

Technically officers are allowed to stop illegal drivers, but they have to consider safety first. If the risk to an officer is greater than the danger to the community, they have to let it go.

"They're all over the place," said Malcolm Robinson, a friend of Cooke’s. "Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan – you always see them. "I hate it when bad things happen to good people because he really didn't deserve that at all."