Woman chased teen on e-bike to 'speak with his parents' for going too fast, Flagler deputies say

[fooferdoggie]

got to love florida. I have seen way to many motorcycles,mopeds and cars on the bike paths.

A 911 call said that the woman, 65-year-old Julia Kalthof, was chasing the teenager on the e-bike on the Pine Lake Path used for bicycles and pedestrians. The 911 caller said they had cut off Kalthof's vehicle in order to prevent her from continuing to chase the teenager.

Deputies responded to the scene, where the caller said that he noticed the teenager attempt to flag down passing motorists as Kalthof's SUV was 6-10 feet behind him, according to a news release from FCSO.

"I swerved over and onto the road, and I waved someone down, but they later kept driving," Ellis said. "And another witness had stayed, and he helped me out. That was the witness that cut her off and let me go."

The identity of the teenager was originally unknown, as he had left the scene by the time deputies responded.

Woman chased teen on e-bike to 'speak with his parents' for going too fast, Flagler deputies say

"It was really scary because I look back at the headlights and, like, that's not supposed to be there," Gaige Ellis, the 14-year-old boy told WESH 2

www.wesh.com

 

[Slaphappygamer]

Well, no one is enforcing these kids on emotos. With all the s*it drivers out there, his will sadly continue to happen.

Yesterday, there was an adult on a motorcycle behind me, driving in the bike lane to get around the backed up traffic. For about 200 feet. He wasn’t chasing me though and kept a good distance behind me. It is a bike, right?

 

[spokewrench]

The boy claimed the woman chasing him was 6 feet behind him. Then how did a motorist cut her off without a collision? Video shows him cutting across the walk path, then she comes along and turns so they can talk, driver's window to driver's window.

The boy was anonymous until he showed his mama his video.

He rode a Macfox, a fat-tire bike advertised to do wheelies and rule the street in style. It has a throttle and an advertised speed of 25 mph with no mention of class, so his mama may have turned him loose on an illegal bike.

His news interview was edited to give different accounts of what happened. Right after he left a gated community, a woman pulled along side and shouted at him. He said he ignored her because he was listening to his headphones. Is that what they mean by ruling the street in style?

Arriving at an intersection ahead of him, she parked across his path. He took to the walking path. She followed. He said he got scared, but he wasn't too scared to turn his head clear around, more than once, to film her with his Go-pro. She's well back and not going fast enough to endanger anyone they might encounter. He said that on a grassy area, she went around him and again parked across his path. He still didn't stop.

The woman was charged with serious crimes, but the police chief didn't criticize her. He said e-bikes shouldn't be allowed on sidewalks or paths, only on the street, and they should be subject to the rules of the road. He said e-bikers cross roads without even slowing.

In the Go-pro video, twice, he crossed roads without looking up. He was watching the pavement just in front of his wheel, where his headlight was aimed, because the stripes of the crosswalk would zip past, making his superbike look especially fast. On the walk path, he also spent a lot of time looking down. I can't say she was driving unsafely, but he was.

The darling boy and his darling mama belong in jail.

 

[dodgeman]

To much judging going on here. The kid may have been riding like an idiot or he may have been fine and the woman might have been an e bike hater. Either way it’s not her job to follow people and enforce the law.

 

[spokewrench]

Enforce the law? The chief complains that there are no laws to enforce.

In America in the 1950s, the per-mile death rate for adult bicyclists was lower than it was later, in the age of helmets. Town boys also fared well, but the death toll for rural boys was horrendous. A rural boy might not have known he was doing something suicidal, such as riding a friend on his Schwinn handlebars (whose design encouraged it) or being invisible at night. In town we knew that people old enough to be our grandparents were watching and would put us wise and report us if we didn't listen.

My town required registration plates, although compliance was up to parents. I saw the purpose and approved. They were like the signs on trucks saying, "How's my driving?" and giving a phone number. If I felt anonymous, I could make my own driving rules and end up dead due to misjudgment or universally hated for my rudeness. My plate reminded me to adhere to adult standards on public streets because anyone could get word to my parents through the police, and my parents would listen. Uh-oh....

The mama wasn't there, but she had the woman arrested for assault, claiming she'd tailgated the boy at 6 feet. In the video taken from the road, the woman did not appear until the boy had been gone for several seconds. In the video the boy took, she was several car lengths back and driving fairly slowly. No reasonable rider would have been in fear of injury by her. She was arrested on the unsubstantiated allegation of a juvenile and a woman who wasn't there. That sounds like a strong case for false arrest. The woman is a private citizen and the mama's allegation of assault amounts to hearsay. That sounds like a strong libel case against several television stations.

 

[kevinmccune]

To much judging going on here. The kid may have been riding like an idiot or he may have been fine and the woman might have been an e bike hater. Either way it’s not her job to follow people and enforce the law.

I don't like vigilantes-thats a job for LEOs!