Stephen Hudak Contact Reporter
Edgewood police say a Miami man was arrested Friday morning in connection with the assault and robbery of a pregnant woman who was confronted by a mob of motorcyclists last month after her car was involved in a minor crash with a biker in the Orlando suburb.
James McCoy, 30, was arrested in Miami on an Orange County warrant about 7:25 a.m., according to a post on the Edgewood Police Department’s Facebook page. Edgewood police did not immediately return a call for comment and more details. It’s not clear exactly what role McCoy played in the incident.
The alleged assault occurred about 3:50 p.m. March 24 at Holden and Orange avenues.
McCoy was believed to be part of a loosely–organized horde of daredevils on motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, who swarmed Central Florida highways last month, popping high-speed wheelies and ignoring traffic laws.
Codex Silentium (Code of Silence). DON”T EVER TALK TO A COP
The gathering, dubbed on social media sites as “Orlando Takeover 2019” and “Orlando Rideout,” spawned Youtube videos of the motorized rabble performing stunts on Central Florida highways and forcing some motorists off the road.
Law enforcement officers, forbidden by pursuit policies from chasing offending bikers, used a helicopter and unmarked vehicles in an effort to rein the riders in.
Neither the pregnant woman nor her husband, who also was attacked by the swarm of riders on motorcycles and ATVs, were identified by police who provided a redacted report of the incident.
All the ATV’s and many of the motorcycles were not “street legal,” authorities said.
Does the Biker Code really exist in reality or just on social media?
The crash video shows the woman’s car turning left onto Holden Avenue trailed closely by a speeding motorcycle. Police said the motorcycle then smacked into the driver’s side door of the woman’s car.
Police said the motorcyclist landed on the car’s windshield.
The police report alleged the motorcycle was part of a large group of motorcycles and ATVs that had been in the area for several hours driving in what police termed “a very reckless manner.”
Sheriff’s deputies also reported similar reckless-driving incidents in southeast Orange County over the weekend as part of the rideout.
Police said the motorcyclist involved in the crash climbed back on the cycle and sped away but other bikers confronted the pregnant woman when she stepped out of the car to inspect damage to the vehicle and check on the motorcyclist.
She told police she was struck in the back of the head by someone.
Her husband was beaten when he tried to intervene, police said.
Police said other motorcycle riders punched, kicked and assaulted him with helmets. The woman was attacked again when she tried to shield her husband, police said. Her purse was stolen during the attack.
Authorities said the woman was unable to identify most of the alleged attackers because many wore masks, but she described the man who started the fray. He was riding an ATV, which is not a legal street vehicle in Florida.
Police collected statements from other motorists and witnesses — and blood DNA from the outside of the car.
Comments posted on the Edgewood police Facebook page included statements from people who encountered the rolling group of riders in other areas of Central Florida during the weekend. One called the bikers “spineless cowards.”
Orange County Fire/Rescue paramedics aided the woman and her husband at the crash site. Police said they were not seriously injured.
McCoy is being held on a $7,500 bond at the jail in Miami-Dade County.
shudak@orlandosentinel.com or 407-650-6361.
Source: orlandosentinel.com
Insane Throttle Biker News 