Editor’s note: This story was updated June 13, 2024 with an additional photograph and information.

Reading police have identified the man they said punched an officer in the face during a disturbance at the Pagoda last weekend after a large number of people, many who illegally rode dirt bikes on public roads, had gathered.

An arrest warrant was issued Wednesday for Lorenzo Gonzalez, 29, of the 600 block of Buttonwood Street. He’s wanted on aggravated assault, interference with the administration of justice, riot and related charges.

Courtesy of Crime Alert of Berks County

Lorenzo Gonzalez

According to police:

Officer Michael Balch was assigned to a dirt bike detail June 8 after the police department had learned via social media that a large number of riders of off-road vehicles were planning to gather in the city.

Balch was on Duryea Drive when he heard that police were being dispatched to the Pagoda for a report of a large and noisy crowd.

As he got out of his vehicle to try to clear the way, he saw a man later identified as Luis Melo-Castillo, 26, of Reading on an illegal dirt bike.

The officer approached Melo-Castillo and grabbed him as he tried to turn on the bike. A struggle ensued, and a crowd formed around the two men.

Video footage of the incident shows that as the struggle progressed, Gonzalez approached the officer from behind and raised his fist to strike him.

A man strikes a Reading Police officer who is subduing a second individual Saturday at the Pagoda. The frame is from a video posted on the Reading FOP Lodge #9 Facebook page. (BILL UHRICH – READING EAGLE)

Gonzalez does not take a swing at the officer at that point, but instead stops and eventually ends up in front of the officer. Gonzalez can be seen yelling at the officer and trying to pull Melo-Castillo away from Balch, who in response lunges at Gonzalez.

Gonzalez can then be seen in the video punching the officer twice in the face before the footage ends.

COURTESY OF READING POLICE

Reading police said they’ve identified the man in this image captured from cellphone video during the June 8 disturbance at the Pagoda. They said Lorenzo Gonzalez punched the police officer in the face as he struggled to arrest a suspect he caught illegally riding a dirt bike on Duryea Drive. (Courtesy of Reading Police Department)

Police said several people have been charged but not all were in custody.

Anyone who knows Gonzalez’s whereabouts is asked to submit an anonymous tip to Crime Alert Berks County.

Tips can earn a tipster up to $10,000 and can be made by calling 877-373-9913 or downloading the Crime Alert app, or via text, using the keyword “alert berks,” to 847411.

Tips can be submitted directly to Criminal Investigator Travis Atkins at 610-655-6290.