Police are hunting for two young men who rode scrambler motorbikes around a Bristol playground, and then assaulted and threatened a woman who started taking pictures of them.
Officers were called by the victim, other passers by who were abused and local residents during the incident which happened in the playground at Moorlands Road in Speedwell at around 6pm on Saturday evening.
A woman, who declined to be named, told Bristol Live how she was walking her dog when she saw two young men on motorbikes riding around the playground and the fields between Speedwell and Fishponds, which include the Whitehall Rugby Club pitch.
“I got my phone out to take pictures and one of them approached me and said I couldn’t take pictures of him,” she said.
“I stood my ground and told him that I could as we were in a public place. He said ‘I will run you over and I’ll kill your dog, and then he reached forward and whacked my phone out of my hand,” she added.
Luckily the phone wasn’t damaged as it landed on grass, and the woman wasn’t otherwise injured, although now has a bruised hand.
“They passed me and another group of people who were there told them they shouldn’t be riding their bikes there and they abused them too,” she added.
The two young men then rode off into the Coombe Brook Nature Reserve, and a local resident came out to say she’d seen what happened and called the police.
Aside from riding bikes in a public park being illegal, riding motorcross or off-road bikes is not considered essential exercise as part of the coronavirus lockdown - not least because any potentially dangerous sport or pastime could mean injury that puts added pressure on the NHS Accident & Emergency departments.
A spokesperson for Avon and Somerset police said they were keen to identify the bikers.
“We were called at 6pm on Saturday evening about an incident in the Speedwell area of Bristol.
“A woman, in her 40s, reported an unknown male had assaulted her in Foundry Lane, causing her to drop the mobile phone she was carrying. It is believed she was taken images of people riding motorbikes. No injuries were sustained.
“Anyone with information about the incident can report it online, quoting reference number 5220075860,” he added.
