There’s a bunch of juvenile delinquents on bicycles going around causing havoc on peace loving citizens.
Apparently these kids think it’s great sport to run their bikes into metal garage doors and damage them.
Davis Eckhardt, a resident in the San Pedro and Morgan Road area, posted a Ring surveillance camera video on April 3 of a little punk wearing a red shirt, probably about 11 or 12, breaking off from his two buddies, riding into his driveway, deliberately crashing into his garage door and taking off. You can hear them squealing with delight like little school girls at his antics.
Eckhardt wrote: “If this is your kid running into my garage door on purpose, do better. Please teach them this is wrong. Have respect for others property. Property damage isn’t a joke.”
That’s the problem: parents are derelict in their duty. The streets are no place to properly raise kids.
Somebody did this to my garage door and it broke one of the panels, causing it to not shut properly. The replacement is costing over $4,000.
Travis Tschantz came back at Kalani Reyes-Yotsuya with: “You can still have rules for children and get murderers off the street. WTF is wrong with people? They ride into traffic blocking everything thinking they are a gang. They will get run over by someone. You just let it keep going because they didn’t murder anyone. Good logic.”
Brenda Scudder Herbert also fired back at Reyes-Yotsuya saying: “Good ASSumption on your part thinking they are not doing anything illegal. Guess what Einstein? They are doing something illegal by not following the rules of the road.”
On March 3, Jeanette Gillman Mullens posted that “six boys on bikes came riding down Chardonnay Way northbound, two of them into my neighbor’s driveway and rammed in her garage door and she is an elderly lady that doesn’t deserve crap like this. Anyone that has kids out riding bikes tonight in Ceres in this area need to be aware what their kids are doing. The police are looking for them so are other neighbors if they’re caught, they’re gonna be punished and you parents need to do what you need to do to take care of these kids and keep them off the street and don’t say they’re just kids having fun on bikes. This is at least the third or fourth house garage door that’s been bashed in in our neighborhood.”
How refreshing it would be for one of these young moms to take a break from posting cleavage emphasized kissy-faced selfies with the verbiage: “I am a failure at raising my kids the right way. But I’ve just been too self-absorbed and spending too much time on TikTok. Little junior just got chewed out by a property owner who saw him crash his bike into his garage door. He damaged it. I need to go paddle his a**, take his bike away and get strict with him. I’m taking his phone away. He can’t hang out with those loser friends of his. So if you don’t see me posing seductively to attract a new man to replace his dad who abandoned him, that’s why. I think I need to get us in church, too.”
Not likely ever to see something like that.
The problem is, of course, that most parents are not instilling values in their kids. They’re too busy doing other things.
Then you have your apologists for these roaming packs of inconsiderate bicyclists tying up car traffic and riding as if they are kings of the road, holding hostage the law abiding motorists. It’s as if they are begging someone to hit them with a car so they can sue.
One such apologist was Tiffany Camille Nevarez Ortiz who posted: “At least they aren’t inside playing video games addicted to technology and are enjoying fresh air when I was younger we rode bikes all the time all around Ceres like let them be kids and enjoy the outdoors.”
Travis Tschantz came back at her and said: “I did too and we never rode at oncoming traffic or blocked traffic or rode around cars trying to intimidate people.”
Kalani Reyes-Yotsuya caught flak for posting: “They could be drug dealing, drug using, stealing, burgalarizing (sic), and killing people. But I guess this is the thing we wanna focus on.”
How do you like the deflection?
The issue is a complete and utter disrespect for others that seem to permeate certain levels of our culture.
Last year I was in Modesto and driving at night when my car was peppered by pea gravel thrown by a bunch of kids on bicycles. I was enraged, flipped a U-turn and went after them. The little cowards took off in the dark.
Bike takeovers are not just happening in Ceres – they’re everywhere. It may be a defiance born of the pandemic lockdown but I don’t believe that’s it.
We live in a society that is licentious and narcissistic. Weakened parental guidance and social media are huge causes. Why are the moral compasses of kids broken? Could a decline in religious upbringing be the real root cause? But innately don’t kids know it’s wrong to bash in a garage door with the front tire of bicycle? Of course they do, just like they know it’s wrong to steal. But they do it anyway, apparently not understanding the risks or maybe they get a cheap thrill of getting away with something. Maybe they get a charge out of upsetting adults.
Everyone knows the male brain isn’t fully developed until much later than the teen period – the more reason why consequences are needed to correct bad behavior.
* * * * *
I find it rather strange that the state Legislature makes demands for local governments in how to livestream meetings yet don’t require that of school boards, which are local governments. Well, are they? I mean the state has wrapped their controls so tightly around school boards that you wonder if they really have any local decision making.
* * * * *
I thought there was a bit of irony that the three councilmembers who didn’t want a special meeting the day after the cancelled Memorial Day holiday meeting were the same three who accept medical benefits paid for by the city. And the two who had no problem meeting on May 26 are the ones who don’t take medical benefits!
In all fairness, I guess the three planned to enjoy a four-day weekend.
* * * * *
There is something purely rotten in Sacramento and it should scare us all!
Nick Shirley, the private citizen who went around Minnesota and Southern California exposing the fraud going on, is now a household name. Somali immigrants in Minnesota were screwing taxpayers with daycares that didn’t exist while receiving state money. Shirley also exposed the hospice fraud in Los Angeles bilking California taxpayers.
So get this: Assembly Bill 2624 is aimed at preventing future Nick Shirleys – anybody – from aiming a camera to expose the corruption by implementing a $10,000 fine and place you behind bars for a year as well as order you to take down any video you might have produced.
The bill is authored by Assemblyman Mia Bonta, the Oakland Democrat and wife of state Attorney General Rob Bonta.
Bonta is the same guy who called a press conference announcing a supposed big crackdown (due to Shirley’s expose).
His wife, however, is trying to make sure more fraud isn’t exposed by citizen whistleblowers because it embarrasses blue state governors like Gavin Newsom and Tim Walz.
She has it labeled the “Privacy for Immigration Support Services Provider Act.” It actually should be called the “Protecting Immigrants Scamming Taxpayers Act.”
Shirley asks, “Who are their donors because why would they create this bill to make it harder to expose fraud?”
Her bill needs to die a quick death.
* * * * *
Whenever I read comments on social media posts regarding anything Newsom, I’d say about 90 percent of it is negative. I believe the greatest percentage of anti-Newsom sentiment is among Californians because they have witnessed firsthand how bad things have become.
So forgive me if I don’t believe Newsom when he stated “I walked into a restaurant … the entire staff came out hugging me and crying.” He said they were emotional because they were happy to see a “real leader” and “scared.” Where was he? In a Mexican restaurant staffed by illegal immigrants fearful of deportation? Go into a Denny’s and he’s likely to be pelted with spit balls shot through plastic straws.
This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com
