Patrol Car Batters Bike; Rider Upset

Like many youngsters, 13-year-old T.J. Stover can’t wait to get to the new Ventura BMX raceway for an afternoon of racing.

But when the starting gate falls on Saturday, the boy will be watching from the sidelines, while his bike awaits repair at a local bike shop after being run over by a Ventura College police patrol car, authorities said.

On Tuesday about 2 p.m., T.J. was riding his bike at Ventura College when he came upon a campus police patrol car stopped in a driveway across the sidewalk south of the cafeteria, he said.

T.J. said he hit the brakes and laid the bike down underneath the car.

The 5-foot, 90-pound Ventura boy had a foot locked into one pedal and he couldn’t get it out. “I was trying to pull it out and he took off,” T.J. said. He yelled at the driver, but the car drove off.

“He ran over the bike and just kept going,” T.J. said. “It tacoed my rims, bent my sprocket and it may have bent the frame.”

A cafeteria worker heard T.J.’s shouts and took him to the campus nurse. T.J. received only minor scrapes on his knee and complained of a sore foot. He did not require hospitalization.

Campus Police Lt. Bob Escobedo was at a nearby pizza parlor when he heard a report of the accident on his police radio. When the 13-year veteran of the force learned his car was involved he went to the nurse’s office.

“I didn’t feel a thing,” said Escobedo, 44. “I wasn’t aware that he had laid his bike down and it had skidded underneath the car.”

Escobedo said he was stopped and looked both ways before entering traffic. “He was approaching me. He comes right at the patrol car, and when the car doesn’t go, he locked it up and slid under the patrol car. Then I drove over the wheels. That’s what he said,” Escobedo said.

The Ventura Police Department is investigating.

Meanwhile, the crumpled two-wheeler sits at a Ventura bike shop, and repairs could cost $200. The shop owner estimated the value of the bike at $600 to $700.

T.J.’s mother, Linda Stover, thinks the college district should pay for the repairs. “I expect my son’s bike to be taken care of, or replaced by a new bike. I don’t think that’s too much to ask for.”

On Thursday, T.J. lamented having to sit on the sidelines. “There’s a practice today and there’s a race on Saturday. But I’m not going to be able to go for a couple of weeks.”