<\/p>\n
Dozens of e-bikers recently did a “rideout” – taking over a Queen Creek street.<\/p>\n
(Town of Queen Creek)<\/p>\n
When it comes to \u201ce-bikes,\u201d you are not alone, Anthem \u2026<\/p>\n
The hot topic of the May 27 Anthem Community Council meeting: \u201cDiscussion Regarding E-Bike Community Education and Outreach.\u201d<\/p>\n
ACC Executive Director Aaron Baker, who is scheduled to give an update later this month, gave the board an overview on the various types of \u201ce-bikes,\u201d ranging from modest models assisting young pedalers up to roaring motorcycles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the motorcycles \u2014 electric motorcycles \u2014 that you see the kids doing the wheelies up and down Anthem Way or Gavilan Peak,\u201d Baker noted.<\/p>\n
One week later, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell held a press conference on \u201cteen violence across the Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always see a spike in juvenile crimes in the summer,\u201d she said, flanked by the police chiefs of Surprise and Queen Creek, suburban municipalities to the northwest and southeast of Scottsdale.<\/p>\n
While Mitchell emphasized a few shocking cases and a disturbing rise in teens using guns during crimes, Surprise Police Chief Evan Becher and Queen Creek Police Chief Randy Bryce illustrated how e-bikes are playing a part in \u201cmob mentality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryce said Queen Creek officers have \u201creally noticed recently that between the juvenile disturbances and e-bike related calls \u2014 we’ve seen a trend where it’s up and up and up, and then that’s where we start to see violence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryce showed videos of e-bikers doing \u201ctakeovers\u201d of streets and parks.<\/p>\n
In Gilbert, Assistant Police Chief Mike Angstead similarly reported \u201ca rise in organized e-bike and e-motorcycle rideouts, and it’s marked by reckless riding on the public roadway.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Scottsdale Police Lt. Hugh Lockerby, \u201cOur intelligence has not shown any type of information that these types of ride-outs are occurring in Scottsdale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have communications with other Valley agencies,\u201d he added. \u201cWe did have one (takeover\/rideout) recently down in Tempe at Tempe Marketplace, that was as close as we\u2019ve had \u2014 but they never entered Scottsdale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Scottsdale has not seen the frightening big group swarms, there are some disturbing e-bike trends here.<\/p>\n
In 2023, none of the two e-bike calls the Scottsdale Fire Department responded to resulted in trips to the hospital.<\/p>\n
In 2024, SFD answered seven e-bike injury calls, with paramedics taking four e-bikers to the hospital.<\/p>\n
Last year, five of six e-bike distress calls resulted in trips to the hospital.<\/p>\n
So far in 2026, the Scottsdale Fire Department raced to eight calls of \u201ce-biker down.\u201d<\/p>\n
All eight of the juveniles were taken by ambulance to hospitals.<\/p>\n
\u201cE-bikes are growing in popularity among all age groups \u2013 but particularly among junior high and high school students,\u201d SFD Assistant Chief Aren Hansen said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause these bikes can reach speeds upwards to 20-30 mph, injuries from crashes can be significant \u2014 especially when safety equipment is not being worn.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A Mesa Living Facebook post shows a young rider doing a wheelie on an electric motorcycle – also a common site around Anthem.<\/p>\n
(Facebook)<\/p>\n
The SFD community message:<\/p>\n
\u201cResearch shows that e-bikes can be more dangerous than traditional bicycles because they travel at much higher speeds, increasing the risk and severity of crashes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though the weather here means year-\u2019round biking, this is hardly just a Valley issue.<\/p>\n
According to the most recent report from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 193 e-bike related deaths were reported across the country from 2017-2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cMotor vehicle accidents and control issues were top hazards associated with e-bike fatalities,\u201d according to the commission\u2019s report.<\/p>\n
There were 87,400 emergency department (ED) visits in that time for injuries caused in connection with e-bikes.<\/p>\n
The trend is accelerating, according to the safety organization:<\/p>\n
\u201cThe number of ED visits for e-bikes has increased nearly 10-fold from 2017 to 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n
The CPSC also advises children younger than 12 should not operate e-bikes.<\/p>\n
\u2018Dont stop for cops\u2019<\/p>\n
Two weeks ago, a Nextdoor user posted an email from a Phoenix Police community resource officer. It was addressed to residents of Fireside at Desert Ridge, just outside North Scottsdale.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Phoenix Police Department is reaching out to community members and local businesses to partner with us in improving safety for juveniles operating e\u2011bikes throughout our neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n
Officer Kelsie Sanborn created an online form \u201cthat allows residents and business owners to share information when they observe juveniles riding e\u2011bikes in an unsafe manner or in areas where safety concerns may arise.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tool was to aid Phoenix PD \u201cidentify patterns, connect with families, and provide education that keeps kids safe and our community informed \u2026 and potentially used for enforcement action against traffic violations and or criminal behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n
The email also strongly advised \u201cthat community members and business owners do not place themselves in a dangerous situation to gather photos, videos, or other information.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, an incident where dozens of e-bikers surrounded and threatened adults at a Queen Creek park was reported.<\/p>\n
At the June 4 press conference, Bryce displayed multiple screenshots from social media advertising \u201ce-bike rideout\u201d gatherings; several stressed, \u201cdont stop for cops.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bryce noted officers are reluctant to create a dangerous situation by chasing e-bikers through traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey’ll actually taunt us to chase them,\u201d Bryce said. \u201c… they’ll slow down, wait for you to catch up to them, and then they’ll kind of salute you a certain way \u2014 and then try to get you to chase them again.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Queen Creek, according to the town\u2019s chief of police, \u201cWe have great kids.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes they make poor choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the June 4 press conference, Mitchell said her office charged 150 juveniles as adults in 2025 \u2014 including 17 for first-degree murder, 39 for armed robbery and 60 for aggravated assault.<\/p>\n
She added 87% of those cases involved violent crimes or gun-related offenses.<\/p>\n
Sixty-three were charged under the new \u201cPreston\u2019s Law,\u201d which carries extra penalties for group attacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dozens of e-bikers recently did a “rideout” – taking over a Queen Creek street. (Town of Queen Creek)…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":875775,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,32867,152994,5643,1587,29652,355945,1589,12317,7600,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-875774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-america","tag-anthem","tag-anthem-community-council","tag-arizona","tag-az","tag-e-bikes","tag-evan-becher","tag-phoenix","tag-rachel-mitchell","tag-scottsdale","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116770969460450473","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=875774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/875774\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/875775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=875774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=875774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=875774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}