by Laura Garber
Hermosa Beach Police have arrested two suspects in an alleged e-bike gang assault of a 56-year-old man Friday night, November 21, at 11th Court, and The Strand, near the man’s home.
“As of today, Nov. 26, 2025, we have identified five juveniles involved, all between the ages of 13-15 and have arrested two of the juveniles identified as primary aggressors in this case,” states a police press release issued Wednesday afternoon. “They were booked at the HBPD Jail and will be transported to Juvenile Hall.”
Police say they are in contact with the other juveniles’ parents, “and are preparing a thorough case we will present to the prosecutors office. We know the videos circulating are disturbing.”
Multiple surveillance videos of the assault sparked community outrage after airing multiple times this week on Fox11 and KTLA 5.
Police have not released the identity of the victim, who was carrying home a pizza from a nearby restaurant when he was assaulted.
An earlier Hermosa Police press release posted Tuesday, November 25 sparked further community outrage because readers inferred it suggested the victim may have been partly responsible for the incident.
The Tuesday press release stated, “Ongoing investigation has determined that the November 21 incident was not a targeted assault and that the resident walked past his intended destination to initiate contact with the juveniles.”
“There is currently no evidence indicating that this was a premeditated attack by the juveniles, and detectives have determined that the item the victim was struck with in the video was a cardboard pizza box,” the Tuesday press release stated.
“The victim has been released from the hospital and spoke with HBPD officers on Monday,” the press release further stated. Hermosa officers spoke to the parents of one the juveniles on the e-bikes “who contacted HBPD after seeing their child on videos of the assault that are circulating on social media.”
The surveillance camera videos were supplied to the police and news stations by Hermosa Beach resident Matt Terrill, a neighbor of the victim.
The surveillance footage shows minors on e-bikes stomping and kicking the victim while he is on the ground.
“He’s dead, he’s dead,” a minor can be heard saying on the surveillance video, while standing over the motionless victim. The juveniles can then be seen leaving the scene.
On his Facebook page, Terrill posted a text he sent Hermosa Police Detective Nico DiGenova, who is investigating the incident.
“The statement [on Tuesday] by HBPD is a disgrace, you blamed the victim and minimized an attempted murder with the pizza box comment,” Terrill’s text reads. “Even if you twist this around and say the victim somehow started it, the kids still committed an assault when they hit him after saying he’s dead.”
In an interview with Easy Reader Wednesday morning, Terrill expanded on his dismay with the police over the Tuesday press release. He also questioned why the police did not ask for his high resolution surveillance camera videos of the incident until Wednesday morning. He previously provided police with low resolution copies of his videos.
“They’re implying the victim somehow started it, which really makes it super important to have the most detailed video and the most detailed audio,” he said. “But even if he had, that still does not justify in any way… doesn’t absolve those kids of assault and even attempted murder for stomping and kicking him after one of the kids says he’s dead.”
Terrill said he witnessed the assault while parking his car near his home about 8 p.m. Friday night, November 21.
He said he immediately called 911 and reported the location of the assault.
“At that point, I could tell it wasn’t just a fight of teenagers against teenagers,” he said. “It was six on one, and that person needed [police help] and an ambulance needed to get there as fast as possible,” he said.
After parking his car, Terrill grabbed his Labrador dog for protection and raced to the site of the attack. By the time he arrived, the kids had left the scene, he said.
“I could see that [his neighbor] was breathing and he was face down. I stayed back because I didn’t know if he had spinal injuries,” Terrill said.
Terrill has multiple surveillance cameras at his home.
“The reason I have such an absurd amount of cameras in this place is because I’ve had to call 911 five times in the last six months,” Terrill said. “And not a single one of those crimes was ever solved.”
Resident concerns over juvenile e-biker traffic violations and aggressive behavior were the focus of a public safety forum convened by Mayor Rob Saemann on Thursday, Nov. 13.
Chief Landon Phillips, who participated in the forum, said HBPD partnered last year with Manhattan Beach and Redondo Beach in an e-bike enforcement task force.
He also noted the City Council enacted an urgency ordinance last year to enable his department to impound juveniles’ e-bikes for traffic violations, and to increase e-bike violations to up to $1,000.
“Since the urgency ordinance took effect, we’ve issued 33 citations for reckless riding,” Chief Phillips said. “Overall we’ve issued 40 citations this year.”
Detective Dalton Blumenfeld told the audience, “Everyone has heard a lot about the Goons and Redondo Beach Killers (RBK)… Our goal is to hold them accountable… Whether we need to file criminal charges against them, or just get restitution and also get them help and resources.”
Blumenfeld said he hopes to “make them members of society when they become adults and get them on the right track and stop this behavior.”
Mayor Saemann proposed hiring contract code enforcement officers to issue tickets for e-bike traffic violations. The Mayor did not respond by press time to Easy Reader’s request for comment on the Friday night assault.
At the public safety forum, an unidentified resident asked Chief Phillips what action adults can take in response to a threat from minors on e-bikes, which he said happened to him earlier this year.
“If it gets physical, is an adult allowed to respond physically to a minor?” he asked.
The man cited a Redondo Beach incident last year in which a man whose girlfriend was harassed by juvenile e-bikers was sued for fighting with one of the e-bikers.
“That’s a very dangerous question,” Chief Phillips responded. “If anything is escalating and it’s close to getting physical, call the police.”
Chief Phillips recommended people try to walk away first.
“But at some point if you cannot walk away and it’s beyond verbal and there’s any type of assault towards you, and it doesn’t have to be a fist or a kick, it can be somebody throwing something, you have a right to defend yourself.”
He cautioned that adult victims can quickly turn into perceived perpetrators when minors are involved.
“If they are attacking you and you defend yourself, and defending yourself does include striking back, that’s okay. The fact they are a minor isn’t going to take away your right to defend yourself.”
“I respect what you’re saying but I don’t think it works out that way,” the resident said. “The assumption is that the adult is at fault no matter what.” ER
5 Responses
Chief Phiiiips must resign or be fired. His press release regarding the victim in the horrible attack by e-bikers is beyond contempt.
I wonder if Blumenfeld knows any of the thugs parents….Reform them? Blumenfeld believes that’s going to work…BS….Throw all of them in jail…
It’s a huge balancing act for all adults and public servants involved. In my ideal world, the kids would be locked up for two weeks on bread and water with no criminal record. Otherwise, kids that age think everything is a joke. Especially if coming from a privileged family.
Hermosa Beach police have NEVER been worth a crap – certainly not worth the salary, benefits and pensions we give them – and this has been the case since the Val Strasser and Steven Endom days. Yes, Terril is right, the HBPD IS a disgrace and has always worked to diminish the public safety, not to advance it.
40 citation in a year, is shameful. I believe law enforcement is just not interested in writing tickets for e bikes. I can see 40 violations in a weeks time standing in my driveway. It will take a serious accident and a law suit filed against the city for this to get any serious attention.