Woman says she was attacked by dirt bike riders in Old City

Terrorized on the streets of Philadelphia. A woman driving home from work says a band of dirt bike riders attacked her car when she tapped her horn.

READ MORE: FOX 29 Investigates: Kids on bikes weaving in and out of traffic| Police crackdown on dirt bikes

It was shortly after 5 p.m. Monday afternoon and M.Z.--she asked that we conceal her identity--was heading home from work in her SUV eastbound on Market street turning left onto 5th.

"I noticed one or two dirt bikes kind of cutting me off. Kind of and so I quickly honked,"she told FOX 29. "As soon as I honked, I noticed in my rear view a swarm of more bikers out of nowhere."

What followed took no more than 30 seconds, but M.Z. says it felt like a lifetime--playing out on a busy city street likely packed with tourists.

"Loud banging and the car just kind of rocking." FOX 29's Bruce Gordon asked, "They were kicking your car? Hitting your car?" M.Z. replied, "I had no idea what they were doing."

M.Z. says she finally pulled over just before Race Street and the bikers went on their way--leaving her badly shaken.

"It was my sense that they targeted me. They blatantly cut me off--blatantly cut me off," she said.

She was further horrified when she got a look at the damage done by her attackers. There was a big dent in her right rear fender and kick marks on the driver door so forceful that the Nike Swoosh from the sneaker remains plainly visible.

"You feared for your life?" Gordon asked M.Z. replied, "Uh huh. For those second. I absolutely feared for my life."

We've done plenty of reporting on young people illegally riding dirt bikes on busy city streets mostly to show off for motorists; however, M.Z. says this was an all-out attack.

Philadelphia police run occasional sweeps to confiscate illegal dirt bikes Police policy dictates that riders not be chased for fear of causing a deadly crash.

M.Z. says the cops responded quickly to her call, but made clear there's little they could do to help.

"I see these things and I sometimes thought that they were staged like, 'There's no way people do that--that's just animalistic.' And sure enough, it happened to me and now I feel like there's no safe place," she said.