A Santa Ana family is outraged after their 12-year-old son ran into trouble with the neighbor while riding his bike.
The woman, identified as Susan Garcia, was caught on camera lashing out at the boy for riding on the sidewalk.
Jeffrey Vandervort, 12, was riding his bike in the gated Santa Ana neighborhood Sunday evening when he was approached by his neighbor.
Video from the preteen’s GoPro camera shows Garcia yelling at Vandervort to get off the sidewalk before she takes matters into her own hands and grabs the handlebars of his bike.
“She walked over to me and just started yelling and pushed me into this little tree and then hit me in the back,” the 12-year-old told KTLA.
As the two argue in the video, Jeffrey tells Garcia she’s not allowed to touch him, to which she replies, “I’ll do what I want.”
Jeffrey then calls for his mom to come outside and Garcia continues to berate him.
“Come on out mom, let’s have a little talk with mom,” she is heard yelling in the video.
Whitney Gregory, Jeffrey’s mother, said Garcia crossed a line the second her neighbor placed her hands on her child.
“People in the neighborhood should come directly to the parent, they should never confront a child, harass a child,” Gregory said. “It’s so outrageous.”
Gregory told KTLA that she instructed her son to ride in the sidewalk after he was nearly hit by a car last week. In the video, Garcia claims that Jeffrey intentionally tried to run her over.
The entire altercation takes place over about two minutes but ends once Jeffrey’s father comes outside as Garcia yells “shame on you” to the parents as she retreats.
After reviewing the video captured by Jeffrey’s camera, Gregory said she immediately called the police to press charges.
Santa Ana police confirmed to KTLA that Garcia has been charged with battery.
“I hold my kids accountable when they do wrong,” Gregory said. “I think she needs to be held accountable for what she did.”
The family says it’s not their first run-in with the woman, but they hope it will be the last.
