Boston police seize 31 mopeds and motorcycles across two days of enforcement

Boston police seized 31 mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles over a two-day investigation after several community members complained about reckless driving.

Officers in Mattapan seized six of the vehicles on July 6 and 25 more around 4 p.m. on Thursday. Police said the unregistered off-highway vehicles were confiscated and towed for violating motor vehicle laws.

According to police, off-highway vehicles must be registered with a number plate and expiration decal.

In a separate investigation in the Back Bay on Monday, Boston police recovered and impounded 13 mopeds for “various infractions” and arrested three people connected to the vehicles.

In the Back Bay investigation, Thomas Gomez-Vera, 21, of East Boston, was arrested after he allegedly tried to evade police on an unregistered and uninsured moped.

Investigators say that while gathering personal belongings off his scooter, Gomez-Vera allegedly started his scooter and tried to drive away on the sidewalk. Officers grabbed him and he was taken into custody after a brief struggle, according to officials.

Two others were arrested in connection with that investigation on charges of unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, operating an uninsured and unregistered motor vehicle, and receiving a stolen motor vehicle.

City officials recently announced a crackdown on off-road vehicles and speaker cars, pointing to the “unsafe situations” unregistered mopeds, scooters, and motorcycles can create. According to state law, mopeds are allowed in bike lanes but not on open city streets. 

“We must arrest these reckless drivers who are causing public safety issues throughout Boston’s neighborhoods,” City Councilor Ed Flynn said on X last month. “I have asked [Boston police] to strictly enforce traffic laws and arrest reckless drivers. The ‘anything goes’ and the Wild West on the streets of Boston must end.”