Social media led to arrest of biker who defied CHP

The California Highway Patrol arrested a motorcycle rider who shot video earlier this month of several bikers — including himself — doing wheelies and shooing away a CHP officer on Interstate 680 in Milpitas, agency officials said Thursday.

One of the key pieces of evidence that led authorities to 32-year-old Guruardas Singh Khalsa were posts he made about the crime on social media, said CHP spokesman Officer Ross Lee.

Khalsa was arrested at his Brentwood home at 6:25 p.m. Wednesday on suspicion of being an accessory to a felony and obstructing a peace officer.

In the YouTube video titled “Cop Chases Bikers Then Biker Makes Cop Leave,” dozens of motorcycle riders are seen heading south on I-680 near Montague Expressway on Oct. 11, popping wheelies at high speeds. The group is seen converging on a CHP officer who tried to pull over one of the bikers, Lee said.

At one point Khalsa allegedly pulls close to the CHP officer and makes a hand motion at him. Outnumbered by the mob of bikers weaving along the freeway, the officer gives up and rides away.

Lee said the officer did the right thing because it wasn’t safe for him to try to pull any of the bikers over. There were about 100 riders on the freeway that day, Lee said.

“There was an officer safety concern,” Lee said earlier this month. “He decided to remove himself from that immediate area.”

What isn’t seen in the video, Lee said, is the officer pulling to the right shoulder and calling for backup as the riders zipped by.

Lee said investigators looked at the video being shared on social media, which led to other postings and eventually to Khalsa. Authorities also said several tips from the public helped identify the suspect. Investigators are still looking to make additional arrests in the case.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky