A teenager has become the first person in a group of alleged e-bike riders to be charged over a series of incidents that damaged a sports complex, taunted police, and were widely shared on social media.
Police allege the 13-year-old boy was part of a group at the Runaway Bay Sports Complex on the Gold Coast, Queensland, involved in damaging property, pelting rocks at officers, and disrupting the park.
He faced Southport Children's Court on Friday charged with more than a dozen alleged offences. Police also seized a high-powered Surron Ultra Bee e-bike, worth more than $10,000, allegedly linked to the incidents from a multi-million-dollar Gold Coast home.
Videos allegedly filmed by the group and shared on social media appear to show riders skidding across fields, taunting police, and swarming the sports precinct. In one clip, a child can be heard yelling “Dogs!” at officers.
Police will also investigate whether the group was involved in alleged violent attacks at the same park. One video appears to show a cyclist being surrounded before rocks and dirt are thrown at him. “They threw a bucket of stones over him, ruined the bike,” witness Steven Cobham told 7NEWS.
Other footage allegedly shows teenagers throwing rocks at a police car, attempting to open patrol vehicle doors, and damaging the park’s amenities block. “It’s nothing short of shocking,” one local resident said. Gold Coast councillor Shelly Curtis described the behaviour as “a total disregard and disrespect for uniformed police officers”.
Outside court, the teenager was left to face a media scrum alone after his father jumped a fence to avoid cameras. He did not respond when asked by 7NEWS what he wanted to say to the “thousands of people” police allege had been affected by the group’s behaviour. The boy’s mother also declined to comment when asked whether she regretted buying her son an e-bike.
Police are now investigating whether the group was involved in other alleged violent incidents at the same park.
