PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN) — Two teens were confronted by an elderly couple near Jupiter, and the children said the encounter ended with a brazen e-bike theft.
Melissa, the mother of one of the boys involved in the incident that was caught on cellphone video feels a line was crossed and wants authorities to do more.
“I could not believe that older people in their 70s would act that way,” she said.
Cellphone video captured the confrontation along a canal. Melissa said her son.
Melissa said her son and his friend were fishing when the couple, identified as Frederic and Deborah Miner, came out of their home, located along the 13000 block of Crown Quay Lane.
“They know they’re trespassing,” said Deborah
“No one is tres-,” said one of the teens.
“This is private property, that’s private property,” said Deborah.
According to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, the Miners took the teens’ e-bikes to their driveway.
The Miners they were moving the e-bikes to the garage, like they previously did with another teen caught fishing in the pond.
“All they had to do was say, ‘You’re trespassing, we don’t allow fishing here, this is a private [homeowners association] community. Can you please leave?'” said Melissa.
But that was when things escalated. When one of the teens tried to get his e-bike back, Frederic slapped his hand away.
“Get the [expletive] off my bike,” said one of the teens.
“It’s not yours anymore!” said Deborah.
“Now he’s trying to assault my wife,” said Frederic.
“He’s not assaulting nothing!” said the other teen.
Investigators said Frederic refused to return the e-bikes despite several requests from the teens.
“It’s very upsetting as a mom, because you wanna let your kids be able to ride bikes and fish and do things that we did when we were growing up, but I feel like the world is very unsafe,” said Melissa.
Melissa said her son felt scared because he wasn’t able to call or contact her until it was over.
“Nobody has the right to put their hands on young children. Nobody has a right to steal other people’s property,” she said.
The Miners refused to comment. Frederic is facing charges including petit theft and simple battery, and Deborah was charged with petit theft.
Now Melissa is pushing for harsher charges.
“It should have been a felony,” she said, “I hope that these people are punished properly, and I hope that they don’t harass children anymore.”
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