By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-12 19:01:01 | Updated at 2026-08-12 19:54:37
1 hour ago
A vicious gang of e-bike thugs threw rocks at drivers on a busy roadway in the Sacramento area as public officials seek to curb the growing menace.
Video showed a group of young riders near a road in the city of Elk Grove, where a resident said she witnessed the them grab landscaping rocks from a walkway and hurl them at passing vehicles.
“This is what the kids are doing here, throwing rocks,” the woman can be heard saying on the video shared by KCRA.
Elk Grove resident Karen Vethekar told the outlet that gangs of wild riders have repeatedly targeted her in the neighborhood.
“They feel invincible, invincible like most kids do and young adults,” Vethekar said.
A gang of e-bike ruffians followed Vethekar home from a local park, she said, with frightening home surveillance shows riders gathered outside her home.
“My husband checked the camera. He said, ‘The kids are still out there,’” she told KCRA. “And I was like, ‘What can we do?’”
Vethekar said the image of riders hurling rocks haunts her.
“These are streets that we drive day in, day out,” she added. “It’s unsafe. It puts everyone at risk.”
Elk Grove Police spokeswoman Julissa Ortiz told the outlet that cops fielded a complaint about the e-bike troublemakers and officers are stepping up patrols in response.
“We know that it’s an ongoing problem,” Ortiz said.
Meanwhile, members of the Elk Grove city council were scheduled to meet Wednesday to consider new regulations for e-bikes, motorized scooters and bicycles.
According to city officials, calls for service involving e-bikes exploded from approximately seven in 2023 to 62 in 2025, reports KCRA.
The city says approximately 122 e-bike-related calls have already been recorded in 2026.
A whopping 238 bicycle-related collisions occurred in Elk Grove between 2023 and 2025, including 27 resulting in major injuries.
The number of bicycle collisions more than doubled, from 51 in 2023 to 110 in 2025.
Proposed rules before the Elk Grove city council would ban personal transportation devices, including e-bikes, from local sidewalks unless signs specifically allow them.
Riders would be required to yield to pedestrians and give an audible warning when passing in areas where riding is permitted.
The rules would also set a 15-mile-per-hour speed limit for bicycles and personal transportation devices on bikeways and prohibit reckless riding, racing and tricks.
Ortiz said the threat posed by e-bike crooks is very real.
“Throwing rocks, intimidating people in these communities can turn dangerous very quickly,” she said.
