Mishal Al-Otaibi Saudi Gazette RIYADH — A Saudi joy rider, in his twenties and wanted in a serious criminal cases, was arrested by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) teams in Riyadh who are continuing their sweep against traffic violators in the region. Another wanted person in traffic cases was also detained during the ongoing traffic campaign. The drive was carried out late Thursday night against joy riders in eastern Riyadh. Head of the Command and Control Center and Spokesman of Riyadh Traffic Administration Lt. Col. Hassan Saleh Al-Hassan said the CID teams in Riyadh Region's Traffic Administration are continuing their efforts to pursue joy riders, arrest and bring them to justice. He further said that the CID teams had kept a Toyota Yaris, with four people under surveillance in Al-Manar district. When the driver, mistakenly believing that the eye of the law was not watching, began driving fast and dangerously. He was pursued after he refused to obey orders to stop. It turned out that the car was stolen and an All Points Bulletin (APB) had been issued in this regard. The police patrol had to resort to ramming the car sideways to stop the joy riders by force. The young men in the car escaped by quickly exiting the stationary car and running away. They ran and crossed the Khurais Expressway during their escape bid, but the security authorities kept up the chase and caught the driver and one of his friends. The driver turned out to be a wanted person in several serious criminal cases, including robbing a car at gunpoint. The driver and his friend were handed over to the authorities concerned to complete investigations in all the cases registered against him. The car was impounded and would be later handed over to its owner. In another traffic operation, the teams carried out a speedy operation to arrest a joy rider who was driving a Hyundai Accent. The joy rider with his repeated acceleration disturbed the eastern Riyadh districts on Wednesday. He was arrested on Thursday and he too was chased, his car rammed and stopped by force. The man is a 24-year-old Saudi national. Al-Hassan said he was taken into custody in Al-Nassiriyah and his car impounded. He said the undercover teams carried out a third operation in which they arrested a man joy riding in a Honda Civic on Abdulrahman Al-Ghafiqi Street. Then he moved to Prince Bandar Bin Abdul Aziz Street after hiding the car's number plates. He refused to obey the CID teams and stop. He kept on dodging and entered a district where he was pursued, trapped and forced to stop. He was a 25-year-old Saudi national. He was taken into custody at Al-Nassiriyah detention facility and his car has been impounded.
