BURBANK : Police Bike Patrol’s Arrest Is a First

When they pulled over the weaving bicyclist, Burbank Officers John Dilibert and Kevin Grandalski earned a new nickname--the space police.

Their lights, helmets and bicycles confused the cyclist, who turned out to have a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit, police said. It took a moment to persuade him that he was being pulled over by down-to-earth officers.

“He was still convinced we are the space police because he had no idea where we came from,” Dilibert said.

Dilibert and Grandalski are members of the new police bicycle patrol of downtown Burbank, begun a month ago to crack down on summer crime in parking garages, deal with traffic and crowds, and create a higher police visibility in the community.

The drunk driving arrest was a first in Burbank history: All the vehicles involved were human-powered and two-wheeled.

Ignacio Vasquez, 24, of Burbank was arrested at 12:30 Sunday morning after he allegedly rode his bicycle through a red light at Olive Avenue and First Street. Vasquez swerved over two lanes of traffic before Dilibert and Grandalski could stop him, police said.

It was because they were on bicycles and not in a police car that they could get through the traffic to stop Vasquez safely, Dilibert said.

Vasquez, who was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor of driving while intoxicated on a bicycle, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.21%, police said. He was cited and released.