JUPITER, Fla. — A mother is urging the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office to pursue tougher charges after she says a couple took her 12-year-old son's e-bike and his friend's while the boys stopped to fish near Jupiter.
Melissa said her son and his friend were fishing along the 13000 block of Crown Quay Lane in unincorporated Jupiter when Frederic and Deborah Miner came out of their home.
The couple told the boys they were trespassing on private property before taking the bikes to their driveway. The Miners said they were moving the bikes to the garage, as they had previously done with another teen caught fishing in the pond.
"I couldn't believe that older people in their 70's would act that way. All they had to do was say, 'You're trespassing, we don't allow fishing here, this is a private HOA community,'" Melissa said.
Investigators say when one of the teens tried to retrieve his bike, Frederic slapped his hand away. Frederic also refused the dispatch's several requests to return the bikes.
"He did because he was not able to call me until after," Melissa said, when asked whether her son felt scared or threatened. "Nobody has the right to put their hands on young children. Nobody has a right to steal other people's property."
Melissa says she is unsatisfied with the charges filed and is pushing for harsher punishment, adding that both e-bikes were valued at more than $7,500.
"It should have been a felony," Melissa said. "It's very upsetting as a mom because you wanna let your kids be able to ride bikes and fish and do things we did when we were growing up, but I feel like the world is very unsafe."
WPTV Reporter Zitlali Solache went to the Miners' home for comment and got no response.
Court records show Frederic is facing charges, including petit theft and simple battery. Deborah is being charged with petit theft. Both are scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
"I hope that these people are punished properly and I hope that they don't harass children anymore," Melissa said. "It's not up to them to take matters into their own hands. I think they should've waited for the police to handle the situation."
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