CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s happened dozens of times -- people taking over the streets of Charlotte riding ATVs and making the roads dangerous for other drivers.
It's happened yet again, and NBC Charlotte’s cameras caught it. The video showed at least a dozen people cutting across traffic on ATVs.
It happened near the Bojangles on West Blvd. and Tryon St. -- the same place where a group of riders tried to get away from police after assaulting a woman and ended up in a deadly accident.
Back in August, a group of ATVs and dirt bikes terrorized Heather Perotti while she was driving in south Charlotte. She told NBC Charlotte while they were stopped, someone associated with the group punched her. He's since been charged with assault on a female.
"He punched me in my ear, and it rang my chimes a little bit for sure," Perotti said shortly after the incident happened.
As police were chasing the group from the Bojangles, one of them crashed and died, investigators said.
"I do feel very badly for his family, but it's a choice, you have a choice to do this kind of thing," Perotti said.
ATV gangs have been spotted all over the area -- in uptown, on Billy Graham Parkway and I- 277. At the light rail in South End, a man was seriously hurt after he bypassed the lights and gates and crossed into the path of a train.
ATVs don't have to be registered, but riders are not allowed to drive on any public roads or highways. Police said if one of them crashes, it could cause a domino effect that could hurt innocent people.
If a driver is near a group of ATVs, they should slow down, pull off to the right to let them pass, never engage with them, and call 911, according to police.