Operation rodeo: when the gendarmes track motocross in the forest

The roar of the engine approaches in the forest of Carnelle.

The motocross rider appears at the top of the Pierre Turquaise forest road and stops.

He has just seen the gendarmes who assemble on Sunday at the beginning of the afternoon, and turns around to avoid control.

Others will not.

This weekend, the soldiers of the Val-d'Oise gendarmerie group led an operation to fight against the phenomenon of motocross rodeos.

In total, the report shows sixteen recorded offenses and six contraventions.

A dozen motorcycles were seized and may be confiscated by the courts as part of the procedure that has been initiated.

A phenomenon that mobilizes the police.

The Val-d'Oise police have for their part set up anti-rodeo cells in each district.

About twenty gendarmes are deployed in the forest of Carnelle on Sunday to fight against the motocross rodeos.

Frédéric NAIZOT

The gendarmes work "by ear"

It is 3 pm, under the direction of Captain Boque, who commands the departmental road safety squadron.

About twenty gendarmes gathered for the briefing.

The L'Isle-Adam horse post is also on the ground, with two riders and a soldier who will operate in 4 x 4 in the heart of the forest.

Bikers of the Republican Guard are also on the bridge riding off-road motorcycles to which are added the reinforcements of the local brigades which set up interception posts.

The Psig, the equivalent of the Bac, will join the device in the afternoon.

“You have to try to work by ear… Stop in the forest and listen.

This is the best way to spot them.

"

The forest remains silent.

But elsewhere, where the gendarmes are also deployed to fight against the rodeos, the motocross is out.

One of them has just been entered as the day before, on the Orville road, which is located between Louvres and Goussainville.

A Honda 125 CRF.

"It is reported stolen and the person did not have a license" confides Captain Boque.

“It's a sector where we have a lot of requests for intervention on weekends.

Farmers, in particular, complain about the passage of motocross.

"

Accident in the forest

Another motorcycle is intercepted near Le Heaulme, near Marines, while an alert arrives on the captain's radio: several motorcycles have been seen around the blue lake, in the heart of the Carnelle forest. The boss of the EDSR, who patrols the industrial area of ​​Bruyères where speed runs often take place, launches several crews on the spot before being warned that a young person has just had an accident in the forest, near Beaumont -on-Oise.

At the end of rue Danielle-Casanova, at the entrance to the Carnelle forest, where a sign indicates "Departmental hiking network", the firefighters provide first aid to the injured. This youngster had a violent fall trying to climb a steep climb, probably hitting a concrete bollard. Seriously injured in one leg, he made his way back down to the street on his own, leaving his motocross. A Kawasaki 450, a powerful model, intended for competition, a four-stroke, not easy to tame.

"It is not reported stolen", specifies the captain who is approached by the spouse of the injured.

“We did everything within the rules.

The motorcycle is declared at the prefecture.

We bought a trailer, ”she pleads.

“But he cannot drive here,” the gendarme explains to him.

“He's going to be summoned.

The motorcycle is impounded until the prosecution decides to confiscate it or not, ”he adds, having learned that the young man had already had a motorcycle confiscated two years ago.

The wife is sorry but still argues.

“Take care of his state of health, it is more important…”, he confides.

Another gendarme adds: “Where he has passed it is dangerous.

There are families walking around.

The path is narrow.

There is only room for one person.

If he arrives on a motorcycle at full speed, he hits everyone.

"

The neighbor who called for help, is conciliatory with the bikers.

“It is often the same who come to ride.

There are 4 or 5 passages per day.

It's okay ... They cut off the gas here, passing down the street.

They are quite respectful.

This is not the case with those who turn behind the Olives.

There, it does not stop.

"

Amateurs from other departments

At 5 p.m., the operations and intelligence center of the Val-d'Oise gendarmerie alerted the captain that two motorcycles were running behind the Moisselles aerodrome.

“One red and one white”.

A crew is mobilized to go there while the alert on the blue lake is raised.

There were no - or more - motorcycles when the gendarmes arrived.

The day before, this same device had also resulted in the seizure of several motocross, six in all.

Especially in Méry-sur-Oise, where a dozen young people were surprised to run two motorcycles.

Non-approved machines, which cannot circulate outside private land.

They were seized, the young people fined.

Among them, several were from Hauts-de-Seine.

A few moments later, at the same place, a biker from Val-de-Marne was intercepted.

“People regularly come from other departments to come and enjoy the forests of Val-d'Oise or the natural spaces.

In Hauts-de-Seine or Seine-Saint-Denis, they do not have the same environment.

"