Hundreds of bikers gathered at the City of Crown Point’s Bulldog Park on Saturday for the 7th annual Hometown Heroes Charity Bike Run. The police-escorted ride spanned 50 miles of roads throughout the Region, honoring first responders and veterans as well as raising funds to support local officers.
Hosted by Crown Point Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge #176, the ride was founded in 2014 by Pete Dragojevic, FOP member and Merrillville Police Commissioner. At the time, he owned Safe House, a bar and grill right on the Crown Point Square.
“Coming from a law enforcement family, I wanted to create an event while we had the bar to bring the community together in showing respect and love for our first responders,” Dragojevic said. “Before we knew it, we were getting hundreds of riders in our first several years. The support is overwhelming, there’s nothing better than having law enforcement, non-law enforcement, military, and firemen, all coming together to show love and respect for one another.”
Robert Ballas and Jim Poling, two Crown Point police officers, are also lead organizers. Poling noted that the outpouring of community support was especially surprising.
“When you come here to Crown Point, there’s always huge support from the community,” he said. “There’s just constant reminders from the community saying, ‘we’ve got your guys’ backs,’ ‘we love the police department and what you guys do.’ We’ve got it good here in Crown Point and Lake County.”
Ballas is one of Crown Point’s certified motor officers and a lifelong biker, and noted it is hard to find a more supportive community than his fellow riders.
“Sometimes there are these negative stereotypes of bikers and motorcycles, they’re loud and tattooed,” he said. “But they are some of the most generous people in the world. They come to these events, donate their own money to participate, and always understand where the money goes. It makes sense to partner with that community so that we can reach a lot of people in big, positive ways.”
The funds raised from this year’s ride are being split between Crown Point FOP Lodge #176’s Officer Relief Fund, which helps officers deal with off-duty mental and physical health crises, Crown Point’s K9 units, and the Crown Point D.A.R.E Program.
“We had a dog retire recently, so these funds will help us replace that animal to make things safer for our officers and the City of Crown Point,” Ballas said. “The relief fund helps officers in-crisis outside of the job, in particular we’ve been devastated by cancer in recent years and are trying to help out those families.”
Every organizer also gave the City of Crown Point credit for supporting the ride.
“Crown Point’s been 100 percent supportive of everything we do for veterans, first responders, and children,” Dragojevic said. “Crown Point’s literally been the backbone and foundation of this event.”
To learn more about the City of Crown Point, visit www.crownpoint.in.gov.
