A Belleview man was arrested recently after he was caught driving an unregistered minibike without lights in the middle of South U.S. Hwy. 441.
Michael Steven Williams, 25, of 3836 SE 99th Lane, was charged with knowingly driving with a suspended license, failing to register a motor vehicle and not having a motorcycle endorsement. Williams, who told the arresting officer he usually fights law enforcement when he gets arrested, was last jailed in March 2019 for grand theft of a motor vehicle and resisting an officer without violence, according to jail records.
A Belleview Police officer was driving north on S. Hwy. 441 at around 12:35 a.m. when he saw a white male – later identified as Williams – driving a minibike on the shoulder of the roadway. The minibike had no lights and was not visible until the officer passed it. The officer made a U-turn and when he passed the minibike again, it was in the middle of the road, according to the police report.
The officer made another U-turn and conducted a traffic stop in the 10000 block of S. U.S. Hwy. 441. As the officer got out of his vehicle, Williams stood on the minibike and looked at the officer with the engine still running. The officer told Williams to turn off the minibike and he didn’t react. He complied after the officer approached him and asked him to turn it off, the report said.
The officer observed that the minibike did not have a tag on it and was not equipped with lights. Asked why he didn’t have a license, Williams said, “because I don’t have a license.” The officer placed Williams under arrest and searched him. The officer found Williams’ ID card and ran the information through multiple databases and found his license was listed as revoked in October 2017, with the most recent suspension in June 2018 for failure to pay a citation. The license was originally issued in February 2015 and did not have a motorcycle endorsement, according to the report.
The minibike had the markings of Monster Moto Mini Bike Model #MMB80. An internet search showed the bike has an 80cc engine, which would classify it as a motorcycle and require the driver to have a motorcycle endorsement, the report said.
Williams was argumentative on the way to the Mario County Jail, where he was released later in the day on $3,000 bond.