Anonymous
By an edhat reader
My neighbor posted this and I think it’s worthy to share community-wide:
To the parents of the kids throwing things at cars off the City College pedestrian bridge…It might be time to take the RAD bike away as punishment. I was driving up Loma Alta and heard a loud thud on my roof. After stopping, I saw two kids ducking down lift their heads up (fail) then duck again and then up again (double fail).
I told them it was mother’s day and I was going to call their mom and she’d be super mad (funny). Two minutes later they ride right in front of me on West Campus (fail) and through the pedestrian walkway towards Barranca. With two kids in the car, I am thankful nothing hit the windshield or another vehicle that would’ve caused an accident.
Might be worth talking to them about finding ways to have fun that don’t endanger the public, or at least talk to them about how to get away with something without being seen three times.
Person 1 Hair: light brown, Top: grey hoodie, black jansport backpack, Bottom: Black pants, grey blue socks, Shoes: Adidas black with white stripes and heel, Age: Teenager, Race: White
Person 2 Hair: Brown, dark green helmet, Top: black long sleeve sweatshirt, Bottom: blue and white checker pants, Shoes: white socks, black adidas with white stripes
Vehicle 1 Color: Dark green, Make: RAD, Model: Ebike with rear seat
Yes, parenting issue. But do not group all Mesa kids on E-bikes with these kids.
It’s always a few that ruin it for everyone.
The parents should be made to pay all damages & both child & parent should have to do community service.
If you don’t wake the parents up nothing will change.
I don’t think that anything will happen to these young boys unless they are caught by the cops “in the act” of doing something illegal. I’m guessing that the two in the photo are part of the group who throw things off the top of Parking Lot 9 (next to Marshall’s unknowing folks on State Street. “One of these days,” as they say, they are going to “F” with the wrong person(s).
How is Rowse brought into this? Oh yeah, it’s GT again blaming the mayor for random stuff right and left. Cool. I agree w others here who are pissed at the lax parenting. It’s happening all around, but the wealthier areas may be the worst. Money doesn’t buy everything, that’s for sure. And yeah, one of these days they’ll learn their lesson by either getting caught in the act or fooling with the wrong person.
And, one of these days (maybe), you’ll figure out how to thread your reply to the appropriate comment, and not sprinkle seemingly random bits of malice throughout the comment stream.
“How is Rowse brought into this? ” Maybe because he and council direct enforcement policies. Maybe because he has failed on all of his other campaign promises and is open to criticism in any thread. How is that whole “immediately revitalizing State Street” going. Ebikes are running people over on State Street, businesses are empty. Do you go out of the house?
We’ve all been worried about accidentally hitting and killing one of these reckless kids, now we need to worry about them killing innocent citizens? Sheesh, SBPD…NOW can something be done???
This is felony attempted murder.
Karma–woah, wait a minute. You know who they are? Have you brought this article to their parents’ attention?
If not, you need to.
wow a bit over the top. this is not a felony. kids on bikes and kids on skateboards have existed since cars first came about. Worrying about hitting kids on bikes is something we all deal with and at one point, YOU were that kid on the bike just like i was.
KARMA, did you read the post? These kids were tossing objects at cars from the SBCC bridge. That could easily kill someone, it happens more often that you think.
60, sure, i can read. in fact i know who these brats are. still not a felony and the comment was/is over the top. Calling it Felony Attempted Murder is WAY over the top. I’ve got all day to argue this. There isn’t a prosecutor on the planet that would charge them with felony attempted murder and even if so, it wouldn’t stick in court. Malicious mischief more than likely. As well as vandalism.
11:12 – where does it say they threw rocks at the car? Just because it made a “thud” doesn’t mean it was a rock. I’m sure the OP would have mentioned if their roof was dented. Yes, dropping things, anything, on cars from a bridge is reckless and stupid, but “cut and dry attempted murder?” Good luck. You don’t even know what was dropped. Could have been a wet roll of toilet paper. For “attempted murder,” there must be evidence that they had intent to try to kill someone. Doesn’t seem “cut and dry” here at all.
The cops should have been called as this is serious and they should be arrested and prosecuted, but “cut and dry attempted murder?” Probably not.
KARMA, it’s not over the top at all. These kids need to go to juvie now, or it will be prison later. You should consider turning them in if you know them.
3 teens are facing murder charges in Denver for killing a woman in the same manner a month ago:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/teens-accused-deadly-rock-throwing-spree-formally-charged/story?id=99053570
5 teens were CONVICTED of murder/manslaughter for the same thing in 2017
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Interstate_75_rock-throwing_murders
These are only two stories of many. This is cut and dry attempted murder.
11:16 – 1) I did not know about the rocks, that’s why I said it’s “probably not” “cut and dry,” as there were many missing facts; and 2) I never once in anything I said “defended criminal children.” You folks seem to be unable to separate an unbiased comment regarding the law (which doesn’t care about your feelings) from a comment that actually defends or makes excuses for criminals (like saying they had a reason, or a bad childhood or some other excuse).
Read the last sentence of my comment. Read it again. Think about it. Read it one last time.
SAC, per another report on reddit, they were in fact throwing rocks. Why are you so hell bent on defending these criminal children? It’s disturbing!
11:16 – funny you didn’t mention anything about the comment saying “Kids will be kids.” Now THAT is a defense of criminal behavior. Big difference. Learn to distinguish them.
blah blah blah….ok knee jerk reaction team….
yeah let’s all start pretending like we’re educated in law. that’s a felony attempted murder. no it’s two little boys getting into mischief. my god you people serious need a break from the internet. the kids will be dealt with and your sky will stop falling.
I train my dogs at SBCC and am there every day from 5 to9pm (M-F). I know security there very well. My kids also go there during those hours. We are there weekends too.
The kids on the mesa, ebike kids, have been a total PIA for months. This has nothing to do with ebikes, this has to do with several kids being little creeps. I have called security on them several times, have been called names, have had things thrown at me too.
Two of them started a fire on campus with firecrackers last year and those two have not been seen since.
I urge you to both call Campus Security, and SBPD. I’ve got a few friends there if you would like some help with this.
I’m all about defending kids having fun when cranky old farts start barking at them, but some of these kids need to be disciplined. Which is the problem now….parents dont discipline their kids.
Karma – how do you feel about Hawks? 😉
lol!
LOL looks like I touched a nerve there about hawks…. three so far to be exact!
Entitled punks
IMO this is a parent problem. Parents are too busy to know what their kids are doing and with who. No teaching of respect for other people, their property or their safety from their kid pranks. These kid pranks could have seriously hurt someone or caused damage to their cars.
Unfortunately it is both, which makes it that much more difficult to solve when neither parent nor child cares.
It’s the Mesa ebike gang. There is a very known issue of 6th – 10th grade kids on the mesa with ebikes terrorizing the neighborhood. It’s not just kids being kids. These kids are little entitled brats that talk back and cuss out anyone who tries to say anything. Please, if you are the parents of kids in this age group living on the mesa with an ebike, take some control and learn about what your kids are up to and who they’re hanging out with.
I’m sure there are a few good kids in the mix but there has to be a core group of bad apples leading this behavior. I’d be horrified to know if my kids were involved in this. I know enough people on the Mesa to know that it’s a close and well organized community. Someone reading this has to know who these kids are and who the derelict parents are of the ring leaders. It’s about time for someone to step up and address the problem before the police have to get involved.
Bosco said it best, and didn’t mince words either. I agree with his statement. I was just trying to….be polite for once. lol…
BOSCO – good point. Out here in Goleta we also have young teen kids flying around on these things (I know a few), but I have yet to see them act aggressively the way those downtown do. I’ve seen them harass people by the beach, throw things at people and physically hit other kids with their bikes (happened to my nephew’s friend at a Forester’s game at Pershing last summer). Look, as a young teen we used to tease the tourists (tell them Santa Cruz was Hawaii and you could see the volcanoes on clear days) and goof around downtown, but the physical stuff is not cool. Most these kids are spoiled brats, meaning it’s unlikely their parents know or even care what they’re up to. My suggestion is, when they go beyond goofing around, call the cops. Put a little fear in them.
I have a lot of friends on the Mesa and it’s been a topic of discussion for some time. Even speaking with some of the teachers at Mesa schools have said there is a “bad batch of kids in the area”. I don’t personally know anyone with kids in this age group, but I certainly know that someone reading this probably does. Those parents need to recognize there is a problem likely caused by some lax parenting.
I certainly don’t expect kids to be perfect and it’s nice to see kids being given some freedom. But these kids have gone too far for too long. I worry about how these kids are influencing the good kids and what this means for the next generation. It’s their attitude that needs to be addressed.
Randy Rowse has done nothing to address the issue.
Enforcement polices are directed by the mayor and council.
He’s going to clean up the parks like he promised.
You mean SBPD? What’s Rowse gonna do?
“What’s Rowse gonna do?” Lawd, you must be new here.
Correct, sort of. The mayor is not the “executive” like the President of the US is. In Santa Barbara, the mayor is the equivalent of another city council member as we have a weak-mayor council. In SB, city council including the mayor do not direct enforcement policies of the police department. In fact, as far as governments go, our city council has rather limited powers over how our city is run.
From the SB City Council site: “The City Council has the power to adopt ordinances and resolutions, make appointments to advisory boards and commissions, establish policy and approve programs, act on program and administrative recommendations of City staff, appropriate funds and approve contracts, and respond to concerns and needs of residents.” and “The Mayor presides over the City Council meetings….”
Sure looks like the Mayor and the CC are the ones making policy and responsible for “respond[ing] to concerns and needs of residents[,]” just like cleaning up the parks and making the city safer like he promised to.
People complain to the mayor and CC, they push the PD to enforce the laws and policy they make. Not sure how this is disputable and definitely not “false.”
The mayor/CC have very limited power to compel our city agencies to take action. They can write an ordinance to do X, but rely upon city departments over whom they have no control to actually do it, enforce it, implement it. They only have control over the city attorney and city administrator.
False, our city council does not direct enforcement policies for the police. Oversight does not equal direction.
Um…. are you saying the mayor (executive) does not direct enforcement of the policies set out by the council (legislative)?
I am sure their teachers KNOW who these brats are as they no doubt have issues at school as well. Eventually, these “kids” will do wrong to someone that will take matters into their own hands and a hard lesson will be learned. Don’t expect PD to waste their time and energy on this.
They’re giving Mesa Rats a bad name…
Hunkymom, these aren’t our old school mesa rats, these are Mesa Brats….little over entitled undisciplined little *#(@s. i used to hang out with some of the old rats back in the early 80s…good times at mesa lane
These are probably the same kids bothering people in the Vons parking lot and acting up down at the waterfront and downtown. I hope people start video taping them and taking clear photos and posting them. Maybe then their parents will acknowledge that their child (who they think is never at fault) did something wrong. Right now there are many in denial and those who always blame the teacher, another kid, etc. It’s really bad at certain Mesa schools. Time for accountability and appropriate punishments.
Unless you spend all your time in the Vons parking lot, you might very well not have seen this. Bothering people is purposely blocking entrances and exits, blocking parking spaces, dumping frozen yogurt all over the floor at the yogurt place, and other behavior that we all well know is not socially acceptable. No one is saying it’s all kids, and no, all junior high kids and 6th graders do not look alike. Again, the denying that there is a problem and not wanting to call certain kids out is not doing anyone any favors.
SBEDUCATOR – no one is “denying that there is a problem.” This seems to be a constant problem here and I’m surprised to see it coming from a supposed teacher. When someone doesn’t jump on the “arrest them for murder” bandwagon and puts forth other possibilities based on scant facts, they are condemned as “defending criminals” or saying there’s no problem or issue at all. It’s an absolutist and fallacious way of thinking to say someone is defending or denying when they simply suggest the narrative might be flawed or missing facts.
For example, when discussing drug cartels, one person says they should be treated as foreign terrorists. When another person mentions that, given the definition of terrorism, they’re not likely to be treated as terrorists, but rather treated as criminals under criminal law, the first person lashes out saying the other is “defending” deadly cartels.
The accuracy of assertions/facts/statements should be able to be questioned without being branded as an attack.
There are parents who deny that their kids are misbehaving and do not take responsibility for the situation. Not sure how you misinterpreted the rest of my post, but whatever…
SB – you dodged my point. Yes, I agree there are many parents who ignore their child’s behavior, but your post was pretty clearly directed at other commenters who suggested it might not have been the same kids.
not the same kids and there are kids and teens and adults all over town on the same bikes….
Define “bothering people in the Vons parking lot”. On occasion, I see kids on E-bikes in the Vons parking lot. Aside from dodging cars and occasionally riding on the sidewalk while coming to a stop – I have never seen them bothering anyone. In fact, recently a kid dropped a take-out cup on the sidewalk and stopped to go back and pick it up.
So, recognize that there are a TON of kids on E-bikes, and you can’t paint all of them with the same brush. They could very well be different kids – don’t all junior high kids look alike? 😉
The majority of e-bike kids are fine. The group who is not fine, in my opinion, is the same group who has been causing the problems on the Mesa, downtown, and the waterfront. I am making an educated guess that they are part of the same group and using the fact that people I know think they know who they are. It’s a small neighborhood in a small town.
CC should have security cams all over the place, including each side of that bridge. Those kids should be dragged into court with the parents (and lawyers), then charged with something like “propulsion of missiles onto a roadway.” Attempted murder is a bit of a stretch, but if these kids did the same thing in some countries, they’d be swinging from that bridge. I certainly do not want to see that happen, but as I said in an earlier comment, one of these days they are going to get busted by some not-so-nice folks who won’t be so forgiving. Many of us did stupid things like this when we were younger. I personally was chased a couple of blocks by a guy whose car I’d thrown rotten peaches at. Scared the BUH-G-ZUSSSSsss out of me….. never/ever/ever did that again! Back in the day a guy I went to high school with was arrested for squirting a fire extinguisher into the car next to him along State Street…..Uh-Ohhh…..surprise…..undercover cop!!!
BABY – your stories of past times sound a lot like mine haha! State street was awesome for super soakers back in the day.
Kids will be kids!
GCHEADLEY – yes, but dropping things on moving cars from a bridge is beyond childish pranks, it can cause fatal accidents. This is the kind of thing the police need to be called for, not ding dong ditch or TP’ing. Well….. unless you’re a Solvang City Council member haha!
The RAD e-bike is the teenage (and younger) ‘bike du jour’ apparently…. kids all over town are riding these, very often 2 aboard and helmet-less. Some of these bikes are capable of pretty fast speeds. Not entirely sure what their parents are thinking, buying them what amounts to a mini motorcycle. Sigh.
We did a LOT of stupid sh*t when we were kids, with zero supervision and somehow we survived…I hope the same for this new crop. I own an e-bike, they are fun as hell, so I get it, but I would never have purchased one for my adolescent boy at 13 years old.
Aqua, the Rad cargo bike is the base model and cheapest. It’s a cargo bike and has a 350lb weight capacity. It’s meant for double riding. They are heavy too. It’s not marketed or designed as a kids bike. It is a one size fits all bike. I own two of them and also have a Super73 ebike that looks like a motocross dirt bike. Rad bikes have an age of 16 i believe. Could be wrong. There are many other brands out there but Rad is one of the best overall. I know more adults that own the RadRunner than kids. I see kids all over town on them, sure, but i also see about 10 other people commuting on them every morning on my way into work. Most have helmets, fact. They aren’t buckled ever which is the same citation as not having one on.
Did you ever have a big wheel as a kid? I used to fly down the hill (street) and hit a jump ramp with it, catch air and eat it hard on the road. Then i’d go back and do it again. Good times. Problem with ebikes is there is an age restriction on it but it’s not being enforced and I don’t personally think enforcing it will do much. We’re talking about a two year difference and really that’s pointless i thnk. I mean, i remember being a reckless kid. Age limits never stopped me from doing what i wanted. Shoot….i think i drank less once i turned 21 than prior lol
UPDATE**** while K9 training at SBCC last night, I came across two younger dudes on their ebike. I talked with them, showed them the photos (because they looked like the kids in the photos and even they said hey that looks like us, but it wasn’t, different bike and different kids), but they were able to tell me who they thought that was and recognized them. I’ve sent some info to a few friends i have at SBPD. Ive been told they are very aware of this incident and are actively looking and handling it. I know one of the cops on the case and he’s a bulldog. These kids will be dealt with, guaranteed.
I thought everyone knew you were supposed to ambush cars with rotting fruit in Hope Ranch going 30-35mph.
That said if they get real unlucky, cause a crash that kills or paralyzes someone, there are charges for that that will go into years. The parents will be sued by insurance companies. Kids that go into the juvenile system may come out worse than when they went in.
Everyone loses