Teens on e-bikes race through Walmart, nearly hit shoppers

Two teenagers rode e-bikes through the aisles of a Foothill Ranch Walmart, forcing shoppers to scramble as one witness said his wife and special-needs daughter were nearly hit. The video, recorded by Vince Vasquez, shows how quickly a store-floor hazard can outpace the people assigned to contain it.

Vasquez said he was on a mobility scooter when he saw the riders and tried to intervene because employees were unable to stop them. He told KTLA he yelled at the teens to get out and followed them around the store in an effort to stop them before someone was hurt. A bystander on a mobility scooter also stepped in, but the teens fled before deputies arrived.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department said it was aware of the video circulating online. The incident took place over the weekend of June 7, 2026, at the Walmart on Towne Center Drive in Lake Forest, and KTLA reported the riders were about 14 or 15 years old.

For Walmart workers, the scene underscores a hard truth about store safety: when reckless riders turn an aisle into a moving hazard, there is often little a floor associate can do beyond alerting management, trying to keep shoppers clear and calling law enforcement. In this case, the people closest to the danger could see the risk in real time, but still could not physically stop it before the riders got away.

The episode also landed in the middle of a wider Orange County crackdown on illegal e-bikes and e-motorcycles. On May 13, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer launched RIDE SAFELY, a new prosecution unit aimed at potential criminal cases involving juveniles, adults and parents who knowingly allow children to ride illegal e-motorcycles. Prosecutors have said injuries linked to e-bikes and e-motorcycles in Southern California have jumped more than 400% over four years, while NBC Los Angeles reported a 430% increase over the last year.

Officials said children ages 11 to 14 accounted for 61.7% of e-motorcycle crashes. California law bars riders younger than 16 from operating e-motorcycles, and state and local officials have warned that some vehicles marketed as e-bikes are actually mopeds or motorcycles. They have also said Class 3 e-bikes can only be operated by riders 16 and older with helmets, and that vehicles capable of more than 28 mph with pedal assistance or 20 mph with throttle assistance may be classified as mopeds or motorcycles.

Orange County prosecutors have already filed child endangerment or similar charges against at least three parents since January in cases involving illegal e-motorcycles. The Walmart video now adds a retail aisle to a safety fight that is moving fast across Southern California, where stores, parents and law enforcement are all being tested on how to stop these rides before they turn into injuries.