The Irvine Police Department is asking for help to identify vandals on e-bikes who they say have been damaging facilities at Irvine’s Great Park since February.
They have destroyed restroom facilities and in one case caused a fire, Irvine Police Sgt. Karie Davies told The Epoch Times.
“Six toilets have been destroyed, they’ve ripped the partitions off of the restroom walls, they have lit tree branches on fire in the bathroom causing a fire,” she said.
The total damages are estimated around $6,000, according to Davies.
Police first alerted the community in a July 31 Instagram post, showing pictures of e-bike skid marks, broken bathroom doors, toilets, sinks, and vandalized signs belonging to the city.
Most recently, on July 24, a bathroom sink was destroyed with something burned inside of it. Skid marks were left behind, police said.
Riders of e-bikes had damaged grass and playground surfacing, they said in the post.
According to Davies, cleaning crews have had to repair Great Park facilities numerous times, but when they were vandalized or by whom, no one knows.
“We’re just trying to find out who’s responsible so we can hold them accountable. These parks are virtually brand new and turning them into some sort of destruction area is not what they were intended for,” she said.
Parents have also said they feel unsafe leaving their children to play near the Bosque area—a strip of grass, trails, and a children’s playground—as e-bike riders reportedly zoom around it as if it were a racetrack, she said.
“They’re burning holes in the kids’ playgrounds that have that rubberized flooring. They’re basically using the park as their e-bike track,” she said.
Anyone who sees people causing such damage is asked to report it immediately, police said.
