A 26-year-old woman says she was slapped on the buttocks twice within 10 minutes by a teenage boy riding an e-bike while she ran through Nocatee last week, and she is not the only one describing an encounter like it. The St. Johns County Sheriff's Office is now investigating a string of reports from women who say they were struck from behind by someone riding an e-bike while walking or running in the community.
Gabos said she was running around 4:45 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, when a teen on an e-bike passed her from behind and hit her on the buttocks, first on a trail behind Nocatee's Splash Park and then again as she continued toward Crosswater Parkway near Bluewater, according to the St. Johns Citizen. “It then happened a second time 10 minutes later,” she said, describing the encounters to Action News Jax. “I was completely startled. I was like, did that really just happen?” she said.
Gabos tried to chase the rider on foot after the second slap, but she was unable to keep pace with the motorized bicycle, the station's report states. She described the rider as appearing to be between 14 and 18 years old, with short black hair and light skin, wearing a light blue shirt with black writing on the back and a black helmet, and riding a black e-bike.
Another Runner Describes the Same Thing Happening to Her
According to the Citizen, Gabos said another woman running nearby told her the same thing had happened to her twice. Action News Jax quoted the woman as saying, “Yeah, it just happened to me too. And he did it twice.” Gabos said she knew of two other women who had similar encounters, one that happened the same day as hers and another that occurred a few days earlier, per the same account.
Gabos contacted authorities the day after the encounters, on Thursday, and is urging anyone else with a similar story to come forward. Separately, Hallie Johnston said she was walking alone along the Conservation Trail on Sunday afternoon, November 1, when a teenage boy riding an e-bike approached from behind and slapped her rear end, per the same report.
Sheriff's Office Logs a Separate Report at Sabal Creek Trail
Deputies responded to at least one report on Thursday at Sabal Creek Trail involving a juvenile bicyclist who slapped a pedestrian, Action News Jax reported. The complainant gave deputies a description of the bicyclist and asked them to document the incident rather than pursue formal charges, per the station's reporting. Separately, the station reported that a community member commented on Gabos's post that she had been targeted in the same manner that day.
The Sheriff's Office is investigating the reports, according to the Citizen. No information has been provided indicating that anyone has been identified, arrested, or charged in connection with the Nocatee incidents.
E-Bike Enforcement Has Climbed Sharply Countywide
The reports land amid a broader surge in e-bike activity across St. Johns County. The Sheriff's Office recorded 451 e-bike enforcement encounters — citations and warnings combined — in 2025, and that number had already reached 355 about halfway through 2026, according to News4JAX. E-bike-related calls for service topped 1,900 by August, compared with 2,200 for all of 2025, the station reported. Wolfson Children's Hospital treated just three e-bike-related injuries in 2022, a figure that climbed to 115 in 2025 and had already reached 97 by August of this year, per News4JAX.
Other recent cases elsewhere in the region underscore how serious e-bike-related incidents involving teens have become. In Volusia County, deputies said a 17-year-old allegedly struck a woman from behind and fled on an e-bike before he was charged with kidnapping, attempted sexual battery, and resisting arrest without violence, according to WFLA. In Nassau County, a series of reckless e-bike incidents led to felony arrests of multiple teens in the Callahan and Yulee areas, News4JAX reported separately, after a deputy spotted three e-bikes heading northbound with no working lights late at night near U.S. Highway 1 and State Route 200. All three riders in that case were arrested for felony fleeing and eluding along with reckless driving, per the same report. Those cases are not connected to the Nocatee reports and are cited here only to illustrate a wider regional pattern.
