Local ·
Williamsburg’s eBike Gang
WILLIAMSBURG, VA — Anxiety continued mounting across local neighborhood Facebook pages this week following another weekend of reported sightings involving what residents are now openly calling an “eBike gang,” a loosely affiliated network of teenagers primarily accused of traveling around town in groups and appearing too comfortable doing so.
Though no criminal activity has been reported, neighbors insist “you can just tell” things are trending in the wrong direction.
The teenagers, mostly middle- and high-school boys on expensive electric bikes have been seen riding between shopping centers, neighborhoods, gas stations, and friends’ houses with an increasingly unsettling level of independence.
“They move in packs,” said concerned resident Diane Lamberti, who clarified she knows several of the boys’ parents and has already “raised concerns” with them directly. “The alarming part is how unconcerned the parents are. They’ll just say things like, ‘Oh they’re probably getting Chick-fil-A,’ as if that explains why teenage boys are out unsupervised at 9:30 at night. Nobody should be having that much freedom at 15.”
Witnesses say the group often travels in clusters of three to five, occasionally weaving through traffic, riding one-handed, or performing wheelies near parking lots before dispersing into various finished basements to consume snacks and play video games until someone’s mom orders pizza.
Still, residents say the behavior has begun to “feel gang-adjacent.”
“One flew past me at what had to be 40 miles per hour,” said another resident who later admitted the teenager was riding downhill. “I’m not saying they’re criminals. I’m saying if you saw teens moving that fast in matching black hoodies, you’d lock your doors.”
Several residents also noted the bikes themselves appear unusually expensive, creating confusion about whether the teenagers should be viewed as dangerous or merely privileged.
“That’s what makes this so hard to process,” said local mother Karen Bostwick. “One minute they’re popping wheelies through Target like little outlaws, the next minute they’re headed home to a 5,000-square-foot house with a pool and golf simulator. There’s just something very unsettling about it.”
Others described the teens’ behavior as “cocky,” citing repeated sightings of boys obtaining Slurpees “with very little urgency” before regrouping outside convenience stores and discussing unknown topics.
“They all had helmets, but still,” one resident wrote.
At press time, community concern intensified further after reports surfaced that several members of the eBike gang had coordinated plans to meet friends from another neighborhood without their parents first speaking to each other.