SPRINGFIELD -- Following multiple problems with illegal and problem dirt bike riders, the police department began Wednesday using undercover officers on motorcycles to catch the violators.

The crackdown comes four days after a dirt bike rider threw a chunk of concrete at an officer’s head and smashed the rear window of a cruiser with a brick, as police surrounded a group of offenders at a gas station in the South End. No one was injured in the incident, said Ryan Walsh, police spokesman.

There is zero tolerance for these offenders, Acting Police Commissioner Cheryl C. Clapprood said.

Wednesday night police began an operation under the direction of Capt. David Martin and Lt. Aaron Butler using undercover officers driving endure motorcycles, which are off-road racing bikes, Walsh said.

Officers arrested one rider on Carter Street. Christian Rivera, 18, of Dickinson Street faces a variety of charges including reckless operation of a motor vehicle, operating a snow or recreational vehicle on a public way, unlicensed operation and driving an uninsured, unregistered vehicle, he said.

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Police also confiscated two dirt bikes and one moped in the operation, Walsh said.

Police in Chicopee and Springfield have been battling problems with gangs of dirt bikers who ride illegally, terrorize drivers and disrupt traffic for several summers in a row.

Several dirt bikers have been hit by vehicles and injured. A 26-year-old man who was riding illegally and without a helmet was killed in December when he collided with a car on Franklin Street.