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A group of young men rode through a local Safeway on their skateboards and one struck the store manager on the way out last Friday, according to police.

Sgt. Jim Knox of the Pleasanton Police Department said the group appeared to have ridden skateboards down the aisles to the back of the store at Valley Avenue and Santa Rita Road at about 9 p.m. He added that they were attempting to videotape the incident. When a manager told them to leave, one young man allegedly swung a skateboard at him.

The manager tried to block the blow with his hands and suffered bruises on his wrists and cuts to the hands and face, Knox said.

He said the investigation is ongoing and they have leads to the suspects although the motives of assault were unclear as of press time. The youth who hit the manager could face charges of assault with a deadly weapon.

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9 Comments

  1. This sounds like that mobile phone commercial where one teen sends a “Go” text message to send the others into the grocery store and race each other down the aisles in carts.

    I’m not surprised something like this happened – but I’m disappointed it happened here in P-town.

  2. I’m not surprised either, but why would you be disappointed?! Was the bubble popped again?!!? It’s just another reason why kids are bored in Pleasanton… have nothing else better to do and get into trouble.

  3. When I was a kid, back in the dark ages, we made our own fun – bowling, skating (roller or ice), movies, sports, Scouts, etc. We did not go into a store and act up, because we knew justice would be swift and years would go by before we saw daylight again.

    “I’m bored” is not a valid excuse for breaking any law. A parent should not justify boredom to bail his kid out of trouble. When I heard that phrase from my kids, I handed them a book, board game, deck of cards or a chore to do. You want boredom – how about living on a farm in the middle of Nebraska where your nearest neighbor is miles away?

    Want to bet that the perps, who invaded Safeway, are not from our collective towns? I hope the police catch them and put them to work perfoming many hours of community service.

  4. Do you parents know where your kids are at 9pm on a Friday night???? I’m the parent of a driving teen in high school with a cell phone. I know where my kid is!! I’m not saying my kid is perfect….but I truelly believe 90% of the parents in Pleasanton do NOT parent their teens….not if it gets in the way of their kids popularity…heaven forbid!!

  5. Ridiculous. That poor store manager! Parents are NOT doing their job and these kinds of teens have ZERO respect for anything. I am ASTOUNDED at the rude, insolent teens that hangout in downtown Pleasanton after school. It seems to me there are a LOT of latch-key kids out there that have way too much freedom to smoke, drink, have sex after school with zero intervention from overly busy parents or parents who have just “given up”. What the heck is happening people????????

  6. Jeri,
    Do you REALLY know where your driving high school teen with a cell phone is? Like, do you have a GPS tracking device on him/her? Do you drive to where s/he says s/he is to check and make sure? Cell phones are not guarantees for anything. How do you know your teen isn’t lying about his/her location?

  7. Kids are kids and they do dumb things. I do not understand why when a kid does something wrong it means the parents is not a good parent. It doesnt matter if your the best parent or the worst your kid is still going to do what he or she really wants too. Yes your kid may have a cell phone but they could damn well be in San Diego but say there at there friends house. Everybody goes up at some point.

  8. This whole article is total BS. I have watched a video of the incident and this news story makes no sense after you see it. Five of the kids rode into the store and the one who allegedly hit the manager is the one filming. The total film length is a minute and a half – all they did was ride around the store once and as they were leaving, you can see someone tackle one of the kids. A few seconds later, the video starts jumping around because the manager tried to TACKLE the kid who was videotaping. I mean, how could a kid who was holding a videocamera pick up their skateboard and swing at someone? And it wasn’t just a skateboard, he was riding a longboard, which is REALLY heavy compared to a normal skateboard. In order to swing that thing at someone, you would have to use two hands. It doesn’t make sense.
    Never in the video do you hear anyone ask them to leave either. I’m not saying they were right to be there skating in their store but the entire 1.5 minutes they are in the store they never knock anything over, never touch anyone nor speak to anyone. Even if these kids were in the store messing around, none of the employees asked them to leave and as they were leaving as the pethe employees started to attack them – and THAT is illegal. It doesn’t matter what a customer is doing, you can’t physically touch them.
    I’m currently uploading the video of the incident to YouTube. It should be online in a few hours. PLEASE go see for yourself and then think about it before accepting this news story as 100% truth.

  9. connartist37,

    I saw the video you posted on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyR5iJxkXWg

    It appears to show the dumb stuff they were planning and doing but not the routes of all the skaters or the whole altercation, only the beginning, and I think that is key. I think you’re leaving that out for one reason or another. I’m sure the store cams have got the whole thing or a majority. Oh, by the way, read the next article which states that he confessed to assaulting the manager.

    Also, had the store manager not physically stopped these idiots and they crashed into and injured a customer, who do you think the lawyers would go after? Groceries are already expensive enough, ask your mommy, she’ll tell ya.

    A side from the issue itself, I do appreciate your putting a defense together for your buddy. Maybe you’ll make a great lawyer or journalist one day, but stay away from this crowd. It’s your choice to rise or fall. Best regards.

  10. I think that it’s time to forgive the kids and time to talk about the parents that are not involved in their lives. Why have kids if you aren’t involved in their lives?

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