A scuffle between an outnumbered squad of BART police officers and a group of teenagers suspected of fare evasion quickly grew into a full-blown melee at Walnut Creek BART Thursday as WCPD police officers rushed to provide assistance.
Reports that three BART officers were “fighting” with a group of ten teens near the front of the Walnut Creek station resulted in a significant response by WCPD officers who arrived on scene in force and joined the fray at approximately 6:15 p.m.
One youth reportedly suffered a seizure during the height of the scuffle, appeared to recover and was seen running from the area moments later. At least two teens were believed to have been detained. A BART sergeant was treated for undisclosed injuries and released at the scene.
Drove by at that time and wondered!
If I could run after a seizure, I wouldn’t give death much credence. Apparently, that is the mindset at work here. A little rehabilitation is called for. Mom, Dad? Time to step up!
I agree, getting up and running away after what is described as a generalized tonic/clonic (aka Grand Mal) seizure is impossible! (For that matter, doing anything much more than sleeping afterwards is impossible. Even just standing up without serious assistance? Inconceivable. Sounds like a ploy.
Apparently, she came close to getting away with faking it. The police were nimble. Kudos to them.
Just wow.
She is just going OFF!
This is an Alice’s Restaurant allegory, for sure.
What are you in for, kid?, asks the mother raper and father raper sitting next to him in lockup.
“Litterin”
Omg. She elevated fare evasion to “litterin” thinking it might help…
fare evasion
“And creatin’ a nuisance” is the proper end to that…
Sounds like some good stick time for WCPD. My PR24 had a swivel in the handle for more speed.
Firestone 11R
More speed. More breakage…before anyone is actually charged with a crime. That IS your model of better policing. Better citizens through exercising the stick where YOU deem it appropriate.
Apparently the new model doesn’t work…
Definitely elevated to “creating a nuisance” following in Arlo’s footsteps.
This world is falling apart. We are in the Bible ” Last Days.”
Gulp.
Do you have a date in mind. If the End Times do come, is it real if you don’t see it on Facebook with GlassHole Goggles? I have lived long and survived so many in my ignorance.
Bet he’s thinking February 29!
I’m so glad Bart is trying to start enforcing fare payment. Sometimes it gets ugly. But it’s needed. I am tired of paying my fare,only to see so many others just jump the fare gates.
It has been established that is part reason for Barts financial woes. (loss of revenue, and the scaring away of the ridership, as t hey are often also the ones that cause all the trouble on the trains.)
So true!
Kudos to the photographer!
BART has been a mess, and still is a mess. Dirty trains, high fares, Motel 6 on wheels. Their response? More tax money, higher fares. If you go to other American cities, or travel abroad, it is obvious that this system is horribly managed and fairly useless. It doesn’t even run to Golden Gate Park or the beaches. But there are numerous stops in Oakland. Read Gladwell’s book Tipping Point. When the city ran paddy wagons to the subway stations in New York with the most fare jumpers, they found that most offenders had warrants out on them. Guess what? Crime went down substantially in the subway system. Fact.
You can easily transfer from BART to Muni to get to Golden Gate Park.
Your point? Have been pickpocketed a couple of times on Muni. Try going to NY, Chicago, Boston and numerous other world cities. You don’t have to transfer to get to what are the high points of the city. There’s actually some planning involved, not piecemeal solutions.
I used to take it daily, Now, only when I need to get somewhere without decent parking. Fare evasion needs to stop, as the fare is at least a minimal filter. Too bad for WC, that they are on both a BART line and a freeway. I now tend to avoid that city, as well. Not as safe as it used to be.
Good. Sick of people being allowed to break the rules that the rest of us pay for.
… leaving us Shaken, Not Stirred.
Showing that screaming hysterically does no good.
We do ours in a soundproofed room so as not to bother anyone…
I was there. There were 8 or 9 kids (I’d guess 14-15 year olds) running up and down the train in the Oakland stops smelling very strongly of pot. I got off of the train at WC at the exact same time as the kids. As I was scanning out of the gate, 2 of the kids hopped the gate. There happened to be 2 police there watching for that sort of thing. Each officer grabbed a kid by their hoody and the kids were screaming and fighting like badgers to be let go.
The rest of the kids jumped the gates and started trying to rip their friends from the police officers’ grasps. They were all pushing and pulling and screaming hysterically. One girl (the one seen screaming the picture) ripped off the 2 officers’ body cams and tried to smash them. I picked them up and continued to let them film so the police could have video evidence of being attacked in case they needed it. The same girl started punching one of the officers in face as hard as she could. She was wild. I thought the officers showed incredible restraint based on the circumstances. It really was a melee.
It got pretty scary. I was standing right there with 3 other guys and a woman and one of the guys said “should step in and help the police out, this is getting out of hand.” We didn’t, and a minute later a 3rd officer showed up telling the kids to disperse. Most of the kids stepped back a step or two, and the officers tried to hold down the girl who was throwing punches.
Some of the youths started getting up in officers faces yelling: “get off of her you fat f$%^!” and “she can’t breath!” and “She’s just a kid you fat A$%”!” The officer was straddling her over her hips, holder her arms down, but not putting any weight on her (I have video). Another officer tried to hold down her legs. A random white lady (25ish hippy type) was also in the faces of the police with her phone camera screaming to let everyone go and to stop the violence.
An AA commuter stepping in and calmly said the police “if you let them go, I will pay for all the kids’ fares.” The police calmly responded that at this point it was not about tickets, but about assaulting police. Then the girl being held down started shaking her whole body wildly. The kids and white lady were yelling that the police had a caused a seizure and “:need to get off of her now!” They did. I can’t say for sure whether she was faking or not, but within a few seconds of police stepping back, she took off running.
At that exact moment, the cavalry arrived in the form a several other police cars. The girl ran towards Target but lost her breath after 40 yards or so and a couple of officers caught up with her. She doubled back and was running in circles near the gates until she was apprehended, handcuffed and escorted away howling (those are the pictures seen the article). Another girl was cuffed with those plastic cuffs, and last I saw, the boys just started walking away.
Again, to credit of the police, they showed incredible restraint. Nobody was hurt (except the police who got rushed and punched). If there is anything positive to be said about the kids, I would comment that they were loyal to each other. They were just desperately trying run away, but they were unwilling to leave friends left behind. It was crazy.
Whoa. Thanks, Rider – pretty much confirms everything we saw while out there. Grateful to you for sharing your account.
Any video, should you care to share it, can be sent via our Tip Line.
Here’s to Peaceful Riding in the Future!
Good post.
Thank you so much for this posting. Hopefully, your video will help obtain redress from these kids. In addition to more standard consequences, it would be heartening to see them spend every weekend for the next year removing graffiti and cleaning bathrooms and toilets at BART stations.
Thanks for the factual account of what happened. Our govt is letting the inmates run the asylum. They know it and are using that power to shame the police so they can do more mayhem. So glad the police held their ground and did the best they could within their power to restrain these individuals and stop it. That girl was so faking the seizure. It must be awfully hard to be any sort of law officer these days. Police Officers, please do not lose hope. You are our last chance at making society respectful again.
Yes! You are so right. Hats off to the police for maintaining their cool under chaotic and dangerous circumstances.
Punks should’ve been arrested for assault.
Right. White cops in Walnut Creek gotta keep their good PR up. But when nobody is looking, they’ll hold a black “suspect” for hours, even if he looks nothing like the wanted man. Happened to someone I know who now stays out of WC (because he got a job in San Mateo County).
I understand why the police acted as they did: they didn’t want to be fired. Reality check: Why no mace or tasers or clubs? I’m incredulous. This is why these delinquents acted this way. If they knew they would face some physical harm for assaulting a police officer — even if just temporary — they would very likely act differently. We need to get past this liberalism.
Great photos again!!
BART needs every bit of revenue it can get these days. I’m glad BART police are cracking down on this behavior, and kudos to WCPD for pitching in.
Great coverage, thank you.
To anyone tempted to argue that fare enforcement is unjust: it’s not about the $4. It’s about antisocial people who harm other people, and keeping them out of the system.
She (they?) looks ready for prom.
Anyone who would have stepped in to assist the police here would have been nuts. Diane Becton would be drooling to throw the book at any decent law abiding citizen that would have the gaul to assist the police.
Interesting, Ven… our story prompted a couple of people to contact us with accounts of the incident and at least one offered to assist the officers physically, an offer which was “politely” rejected by the police.
drooling? lol. What? drooling. What charge do you imagine this villainous DA would make? lol. The police would provide the arrest evidence for such “crime.” Yes, madame DA, she wanted to help me with these bad people…so I recommend charging her…for something… lol hahahahahahahaha. And, it’s “gall” as in gallbladder…and the bitter taste of it will surely make one drool
Your sense of victimization here is DEEP. Step back and look at what you are suggesting. It does not add up. The DA is an elected official. The People chose her, and The People can replace her. She works for us, all of us.
Send these little shits to jail
And hold their parents accountable for not raising them right.
It’s crazy how excited entitled rich people get when minority children are assaulted by police. Decent people would be appalled. BART should be free for children. I see grown people jumping the gates all the time with zero repercussions, but manhandling children is appropriate? Calling them little shits is ok?? These are CHILDREN. And they’ve probably experienced more trauma than all you middle aged Ken’s and Karen’s. Disgusting behavior by so called “adults”
Nope. Just normal, law abiding, tax paying citizenry fed up with unruly criminal behavior going unpunished.
You’re scared and you’re weak.
You’re just scared and that’s ok. It is my opinion that we should have more compassion for the youth instead of calling them little shits and insisting on jail time for 7-9th graders evading transit tolls.
Agreed
Interesting how you’ve assumed that those who have commented are entitled and rich and indecent for not being appalled by the police response. Just because you think BART should be free for children doesn’t mean it’s right for them to disrespect other riders and law enforcement. If you don’t agree with societal laws and the growing impatience for lawlessness and little brats like this go find your own island to live on and take them with you.
Another example of disconnected parents who have unleashed their inconsiderate, lawless and entitles children on the rest of us. Way to go inept parent(s). You must be very proud.
I would have just pepper spayed them all, never leave home without it.
Firestone 11R