Officers arrested six people and impounded numerous off-road bikes allegedly belonging to members of a rogue motorcycle crew. (photo courtesy of the LAPD)

A rogue group of motorcyclists who spontaneously show up in the Melrose District, Hollywood and other locations on off-road bikes and ATVs and take over streets have a few less members.

The Los Angeles Police Department’s Street Racing Task Force, which also addresses street takeovers, recently arrested six people for reckless driving and impounded five off-road motorcycles, one ATV, a three-wheeled street legal “trike” motorcycle and two cars. Police said the suspects arrested all live outside the city of Los Angeles, and some were from Bakersfield.

The LAPD’s Street Racing Task Force, which operates out of the West Traffic and Central Traffic divisions, had been monitoring the group for weeks. The riders frequently showed up on Sundays, but also were active during other days of the week, authorities said. Police did not disclose the date of the arrests, but said they occurred after the Street Racing Task Force recently monitored the group’s movement from the Mid-City and Hollywood areas toward downtown. Officers from the LAPD’s Wilshire, Hollywood, Northeast and Central divisions received calls about the group’s reckless behavior, police said.

Street Racing Task Force personnel tracked the group to a location in the Hollenbeck Division near 7th Street and Mission Road. Patrol cars blocked the cyclists in a cul de sac and some members of the group, which police said numbered in the hundreds, allegedly began threatening officers. While officers waited for more personnel to arrive, some of the motorcyclists forced open a fence and fled through a maintenance yard, and then broke down a fence along the Golden State (5) Freeway and headed north. A majority of the suspects got away, but the six unidentified men were arrested, police added. Some of the suspects who fled left their dirt bikes at the scene. Police also recovered a handgun in a backpack that had been left behind.

Authorities said the Street Racing Task Force will continue to monitor the group.

People are encouraged to call 911 if they see the motorcyclists taking over streets.