A motorcycle operator faces eight charges after riding the wrong way into oncoming traffic and running a red light in a crowded school zone near Greenwich High School on Friday, Aug. 28, the first day of classes.

Greenwich Police Department officers were conducting traffic enforcement near East Putnam Avenue and Hillside Road at about 7:35 a.m. when they spotted the motorcycle heading westbound in the eastbound lanes, passing a line of vehicles stopped at a red light, according to a GPD alert. Students were walking to school and motorists were heading toward the high school at the time.

Motorcycle officers tried to stop the rider. The operator continued through the red light at Hillside Road and traveled westbound toward Overlook Drive before officers directed the motorcycle to the side of the road.

Officers held the operator's arm to prevent him from fleeing. The rider resisted multiple times and repeatedly reached toward his waistband while officers tried to secure the scene, police said. Officers eventually gained control.

The motorcycle carried a 169 cc engine and was not registered or insured. The operator had no valid driver's license and no motorcycle endorsement. A female passenger was on the bike; she was released without incident.

Police impounded the motorcycle and transported the operator to Greenwich Police headquarters. The department did not publicly identify the operator.

The rider was charged with reckless driving, disobeying a police officer's signal, operating an unregistered motor vehicle, operating without minimum insurance, operating without a license, operating a motorcycle without the required endorsement, unsafe passing and failure to obey a traffic signal.

Dr. Toni Jones, superintendent of Greenwich Public Schools, and Greenwich High School Principal Ralph Mayo sent an email to families at 10:45 a.m. Friday addressing the scene. Greenwich Free Press reported that the administrators wrote they understood how alarming the scene was for families, with police officers and flashing lights visible on the first day of school.

The arrest came one day after police logged 33 vehicle stops during orientation on Thursday, Aug. 27, as we reported Friday. Officers recorded a top speed of 55 mph on East Putnam Avenue near Cardinal Stadium that day.

Greenwich's school-zone speed cameras remain offline pending a Connecticut Department of Transportation review. Officers on the ground handled enforcement at the start of the school year.