A 72-year-old man was surrounded, punched and kicked by a group of teenagers riding E-bikes on July 3 after he yelled at one of them for throwing a firework near him, according to his wife.
She said the attack happened shortly after 9 p.m. on Covina Avenue near East Ocean Boulevard, just off the coastline in Long Beach’s Belmont Shore neighborhood. The Long Beach Post is not publishing her or her husband’s name because they fear further retaliation.
In an interview, she told the Post that her husband was out at a friend’s house to watch the Big Bang on the Bay fireworks show, when he decided to ride his golf cart back to his house early to avoid traffic.
The man was waiting near the corner of East Ocean Boulevard and Bayshore Avenue when someone threw “one of those fireworks that sound like bombs” a few feet away from him, she said.
He yelled at a nearby group of about 20-30 kids riding E-bikes, asking who threw the firework, and the group pointed to one of the riders.
The man yelled at the rider before getting back in his golf cart to continue home, but the group began to follow him on their bikes, according to his wife.
When he took a wrong turn down a one-way street, the group blocked him in, his wife said.
A short time later, he was on the ground with “some kid kicking his head and another one punching his back,” his wife said.
The man estimated that roughly five or six teenagers were involved in the attack.
One of them spat in his face before the group fled, his wife said.
After he was checked out by EMTs, her husband returned home with “his legs all scraped up,” she said.
Two days later, he went to the hospital for tests and is now recovering at home, she said. Her husband’s injuries were severe enough that he had to skip a planned trip the next day, she said.
“He hasn’t been the same since,” she said.
Long Beach police confirmed they are investigating. They said the group of suspects fled before officers arrived.
The assault is the latest in a string of incidents involving young people on E-bikes and mini-motorbikes that have highlighted the difficulty police have in stopping the groups from taking over streets.
Last month, a social media video showed an LBPD officer kneeling on the back of a handcuffed rider as others circled nearby and tossed half-empty cans and water bottles at the officer. The officer had to take cover behind his car and eventually used pepper gel to disperse the crowd, according to police.
Neighbors have been complaining about what they say is a rise in large groups on motorbikes taking over streets and riding through the downtown and shoreline areas.
At a recent neighborhood meeting, LBPD East Division Commander Shaleana Benson said the riders often travel in groups of a dozen or more people.
The department, she said, does not allow officers to chase the groups, and she advises her officers not to single out one rider for enforcement.
Councilmember Kristina Duggan, who represents the district where the July 3 attack happened, said the city needs “better ways to hold these offenders accountable.”
“We are talking about assaults on police officers and community members, not kids riding dangerously on sidewalks,” Duggan said in a statement.