MOORPARK : 5-Year-Old’s Off-Road Ride Fuels Dispute

A 5-year-old boy’s talent for riding motorcycles has put him and his father in the middle of a controversy involving off-road vehicles in Moorpark.

Michael Alessi was riding his 24-inch-high Yamaha 50cc motorcycle on vacant property near Arroyo Las Posas on Monday with his father standing nearby when sheriff’s deputies turned up and cited him.

Tony Alessi, Michael’s father, said he could not believe the deputies gave him a ticket.

“I said, ‘You’re after the wrong people. Why don’t you go after the big dirt bikes?’ ” Alessi said. “Taking it out on a 5-year-old is wrong.”

Homeowners and builders working on new developments in the area see things differently.

“He had to have known this was a problem,” said Mike Owens, a site manager on an Urban West development near the arroyo. “It’s been a problem since I can remember. I don’t mind kids going out and having fun, but people should have the right to their peace and quiet.”

Last year, Michael won a national motorcycle championship in his age division. His dad said Michael is “technically the fastest 5-year-old (on a motorcycle) in the country” and needs a place to ride.

The noise from unmuffled dirt bikes tearing up terrain along the arroyo is a recurring problem for area homeowners, said Detective Stan Webber of the East County Sheriff’s Department Off-Road Detail.

Over the years, homeowners desperate for peace and quiet have taken to writing letters of complaint to Moorpark city officials. In turn, the city has called the Sheriff’s Department.

complaints have been on the rise over the last six months, Webber said, adding that a homeowner association complained last month that parents were teaching their children to ride in the arroyo.

Monday’s sweep by two deputies patrolling the area on dirt bikes netted just Michael and his father, but Webber said the single citation helps reduce the problem by sending the message to other off-roaders that they could be next.

“Generally, when we do go out we don’t give any breaks,” Webber said. “It seems the best way to stop the problem.”

Tony Alessi vowed to fight the citation in court. He said he thinks he can prove he and his son were on private property, in a place where they now have permission to ride.

“My boy asked me this morning if he was going to jail,” Alessi said. “I had to tell him you didn’t do anything wrong. I mean, I wouldn’t take him to a place that’s illegal to ride.”