City Council members say they are disturbed by an incident Saturday during which a police officer was assaulted outside the Pagoda.
Reading mayor announces plan to restrict access to the Pagoda and Mount Penn overlooks following assault of policeman by group of dirt bike riders
“I want to start off by saying I am very disgusted, displeased and disappointed at what happened over the weekend,” Councilman Jaime Baez Jr. said Monday at council’s regular meeting.
According to investigators:
Officer Michael Balch responded to a large gathering of dirt bike and ATV riders Saturday on Skyline Drive and was assaulted as he attempted to detain a man who appeared to be engaging in illegal activity.
The man was later identified as Luis Melo-Castillo, 26, of Reading.
Melo-Castillo faces charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and riding an off-road vehicle on a road within an urban municipality.
Investigators are reviewing body-cam footage and using other means to identify the male who punched Balch, Police Chief Eli Vazquez said at a press conference earlier Monday.
Three people of interest have been identified, William Heim, city managing director, told council Monday.
The incident is still under investigation and no further information is being released at this time, a city representative said Tuesday.
The incident Saturday came after a similar gathering of dirt bikes and other vehicles in City Park in April.
Raucous motorbike and ATV gathering in City Park causes concern
The problem gatherings are often organized on social media, said Vazquez, who has put together a detail of officers responsible for dealing with them.
Councilwoman Melissa Ventura commended Balch for his bravery in the face of danger.
The councilwoman also vented her disgust at the incident, saying she is angry and disturbed.
“It's upsetting that people behave the way they do,” she said, “and then try to justify it afterwards.”
Council President Donna Reed said small groups of people, many not from the city, are to blame for incidents such as the one over the weekend.
Many in Saturday’s group were from other Pennsylvania cities, including Bethlehem, Allentown and West Hazleton, as well as from New Jersey and New York, Vazquez said at the press conference.
"I'm so tired of seeing all these know-it-alls from the suburbs saying (on social media), 'I'll never go into Reading; I'll never cross the bridge because of those terrible people,'" Reed said. "Well, shame on anybody who's saying that. There's good people here, there's children here, there's families here, there's people who do the right thing. We have 90,000-plus good people in this city.”
Baez said that even before the incident Saturday, he reached out to the city clerk’s office for information on any ordinances and regulations pertaining to the Pagoda and surrounding Mount Penn Preserve area.
“I think that one of the things that we need to do as council is we need to raise the fines on these citations,” he said.
Baez also said funding for the police department needs to be increased to attract and retain officers.
“We need to be able to entice officers to stay within our city limits,” he said, noting that those trained by the city often are lured away by municipalities offering higher compensation.
Public outcry
Council heard comments from representatives of the Foundation for the Reading Pagoda and the public.
Jose Miranda, president of the foundation, called Saturday’s incident disgusting.
He addressed council last year with concerns about large gathering, loud noise, drag racing and other disturbances and safety issues at the Pagoda.
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"I'm here again as president to address these very issues that the Pagoda is currently is unsafe with the loitering, with the loud noise and with the drinking," Miranda said. "I'm here because if we do not do something now, there will not be a Pagoda. There will not be a skyline for our future, for our kids."
Marcia Goodman-Hinnersh*tz, a former councilwoman who sits on the foundation’s board, said the problem at the Pagoda is not isolated and extends to the city’s residential areas, including her own east Reading neighborhood, where she no longer feels safe.
“I love my neighborhood. I love the people, the things we share,” she said, “but the sad message I have to bring is I no longer feel safe, even walking out of my door. Why is that happening? It's been something that's building up over the years, but it seems like it's accelerating, more and more.”
Part of the problem, she said, are those who show a lack respect for the safety of others by speeding in residential areas and failing to heed traffic signals and signs.
“They're using their motorized vehicles as weapons,” Goodman-Hinnersh*tz said. “And believe me, when you take a motorized vehicle, whether it be a dirt bike, a motorcycle or an electric motorcycle, and drive it through city streets, that’s as dangerous as having a loaded weapon.”
Goodman-Hinnersh*tz said council cannot address the problem on its own.
"I think we need to reach out to our representatives at the state level and even our representatives at the federal level because this isn't only happening in the city of Reading," she said. "We need to come up with a strategic plan and not just be reacting.”
Security gates
In other business, council awarded a contract for $97,325 to Promax Fencing to install a security gate at the intersection of Skyline Drive and List Road and a security gate at the intersection of Duryea and Shearer drives.
The gates are intended to prevent access to 1.8 miles of Skyline Drive during the evening and help manage unwanted nighttime activities along the road.
The drive is a municipality-owned, private road, said David W. Anspach III, city capital project manager.
The gates will effectively cut off access to Skyline Drive, its three lookouts, the Pagoda and the William Penn Memorial Fire Tower, Anspach said.
