BIKE COPS FOILED AS THEY CHASE STOP-SIGN RUNNER

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

It was just before noon Tuesday when visitors to the City of Brownsville Plaza building on Levee Street saw an incredible sight.

Two bike cops, in their distinctive blue-jay outfits, orange safety vests atop their and mountain bikes parked across the street and waited to see if any motorists edged past the painted lines at the stops signs at the corner of St. Charles and E. 10th, one of their favorite spots.

Invariably, some motorists will do a "California Roll," that is, not really stopping before the white lines and the stop sign, but slowly edging past the sign looking sideways to see if any traffic was coming and continue on down the street.

Yesterday, the two Blue Jays had just alighted from their chiscas and were setting up when a truck did a Roll and they signaled it to stop. The truck kept on going despite their gesticulations and shouts for him to stop.

As the truck made its way down St. Charles past 11th along the rear of the El Jardin Hotel carcass, and turned right on 12th toward the Old Bridge, one of the bike cops jumped on his mountain bike and furiously pedaled after the perp. Since it's one of those multi-speed bikes, the bike cop pedaled fast, but gained little speed since it was n the wrong gear.

The furious pedaling and getting nowhere looked hilarious to the small group standing watching the spectacle from the parking structure of the municipal court.

The truck ignored the furiously pedaling cop, even with the blue and red lights attached near the rear tire sprocket flashing for it to stop. Soon, the other bike cop joined the chase, albeit with the same results.

The truck had turned right and was over the levee when the bike cop got to 12th Street and headed for the bridge. Realizing the chase was futile, both bike cops pedaled back and joined another two Blue Jays who they had called for a backup.

Oh, well, some are bound to get away. Maybe they should be issued minibikes.