By CARMEN WEATHERLY, Four Points News
A Travis County Sheriff’s Office cruiser had lights and sirens on during a chase on April 21 around 4 p.m. near Fritz Hughes Park Road and Low Water Crossing Road in the Montview community area. TCSO was chasing about eight youths on electric bikes and motocross bikes, according to sources including a Ring camera.
Kristen Dark, Travis County Sheriff’s Office public information officer, shared more details about the chase from the incident report on April 21.
“There were 5-10 juveniles on e-bikes using the evacuation route. I’m not able to determine by the incident report whether or not the deputy stopped any of the juveniles,” Dark said.
She did not know if citations were issued related to the incident.
“Our deputies have been advised by their supervisors to be looking out for such activity and they’ve also been advised to anticipate 911 calls from residents when they see suspected violations to assist our agency in identifying subjects and stopping the illegal activity,” Dark added.
Although the April 21 chase occurred outside of Steiner Ranch, what appeared to be the same group was spotted at an intersection inside Steiner not long before the chase.
Chris Trevelise, coach and board member of the Steiner Ranch Interscholastic Mountain Bike Team, saw about eight motorized vehicle riders at a Steiner Ranch Boulevard intersection that day.
“They were bringing an entire intersection to a halt. Drivers didn’t know what they (the youths) were going to do,” Trevelise said. The riders were coming from the direction of the Refuel gas station, “they were weaving within the right hand lane, the median and the bike lane,” he said. They came up to the intersection and three cars from the opposite direction stopped as the young riders on motorized vehicles were stopping then starting before proceeding, he added.
“They took off and 40 minutes later there was a video of them trying to evade the sheriff, running from the law,” said Trevelise, who knows the homeowner with the
Ring camera and saw the video. “The sheriff doesn’t speed down a two-lane road with lights and sirens for no reason. They were passing by residences where there is a fork in the road, and a blind curve in both directions.”
Trevelise wants more to be done in Steiner Ranch about incidents like this. He has seen riders go into playground areas and do donuts in the volleyball court at John Simpson Park.
“Taking care of the neighborhood is one thing but safety is the other,” Trevelise said. “Operating in traffic… they don’t know the rules of the road. The majority are not respectful. We already had one accident, with Life Flight. I don’t want to see death or major injury.”
He is no stranger to injury. His son, who rides with the Steiner Ranch Interscholastic Mountain Bike Team, was injured last summer.
“My son was in an accident when another boy on an electric motorcycle decided to play chicken,” Trevelise said. “He still has problems on and off with his elbow since last summer.”
The Steiner Ranch Master Association adopted a policy on motorized vehicles that was filed with Travis County in July 2023 and is now legal and active, according to SRMA documents.
“Under this policy, any type of motorized vehicle is prohibited from being operated on any HOA common areas to include parks, the Lake Club, sport courts, sidewalks, parking lots, fields, and privately-owned Association streets.Types of vehicles covered include but are not limited to: dirt bikes, motorized/electrical e-bikes, ATV’s, golf carts, gators, UTV’s (Polaris Ranger), etc. If found in operation on HOA common area, the resident is subject to a $500 fine from the Association.”
Amy Yukich, president of SRMA, shared that they don’t have an update on enforcement yet. “We don’t have an update. Things may change in the future,” she said.